Kings Charles’ delphinium supplier Nicholas Langdon, of Blackmore & Langdon’s, shares expert advice for the strongest and healthiest plants.
Speaking to the Express from his gold medal-winning stand inside the Great Pavillion at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, he explains how to get the biggest blooms.
“Once you get them established, they generally take about 18 months to settle in. You’ll get the full display in the second year,” he said.
“If you remove some of the side shoots from the main stem and nip those out, you’ll get a much bigger central flower.
“You can also thin them down, which will make them grow taller, but then you’ve got the wind to contend with. If you leave more stems on, they stay shorter and cope with the wind much better.”
Mr Langdon said feeding is also key to producing show-stopping delphiniums.
“We use a balanced granular fertiliser when they’re growing in the ground,” he said.
“When they’re in pots we switch to a liquid feed. We use Vitafeed and sometimes give them a bit of calcium nitrate before coming to the show just to push them on a little.”
Nicholas provides the King with delphiniums for his garden at Highgrove.
The King has previous spoken of his love for the plant: “For me, the magnificent, gloriously apparelled Delphinium, with its impeccable bearing and massed in platoons, holds pride of place in my botanical affections.”
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