Perennial delphinium belongs to winter-hardy flowers. But it happens that in spring the plants look depressing and even die. How to ensure a safe wintering for a delphinium?
When to cut the aboveground part of the delphinium?
Considering that in the fall (in September) many varieties of delphinium undergo a second wave of re-flowering, they do not start pruning plants in central Russia until October. With the onset of persistent autumn cold weather and small night frosts, the leaves of the delphinium turn yellow, there is an outflow of nutrients from the aerial part into the rhizome. This will be the time when you need to start pruning.
How to prune delphinium stems?
The process itself is not complicated. With pruning shears, it is necessary to cut off the entire aerial part of the stems with foliage at a level of at least 20 cm from the ground.
An important point here is that old stems, when cut, form open cavities ("straw" type) through which sediments enter the root collar of plants, causing excess moisture to stagnate there and provoking the development of fungal infections.
In a normal winter, with frost and snowfall, delphiniums tolerate the difficult weather well. They are not afraid of frost. Thaws and humidity are stressful for them. And in recent years, it rains very often in winter, there is no snow cover, and the plants are constantly in a weeping state. And as a result, damping off and rot in the spring. Therefore, the valuable varieties of delphinium should be covered with foil immediately after cutting, building a "hut", ensuring the so-called dry wintering. You can tie the stems with a rope, you can bend the ends of the cut stems to the bottom.
If the plants are young, one-, two-year-old, then it is better to insure yourself and cover the roots with coniferous branches, straw. Mulching the root zone with humus will also serve as a shelter, and will provide additional nutrition in the spring. The older delphinium hibernates without additional shelter. It is necessary to cover the plants only with the onset of persistent cold weather.
