Today I’m starting Dwarf Larkspurs seeds. It’s a long game, because the seeds are smart. They won’t germinate until they’ve been cold and damp for three months and then warmed up. Like after lying in the ground outdoors through an Iowa winter.
Caution: delphiniums are toxic to animals and humans and may not be appropriate in your garden. See Lora Conrad’s comment at the bottom of this story.
A few years ago, at Lacey Keosauqua State Park, in Southeast Iowa, I saw Dwarf Larkspurs for the first time. They grew in a loose colony among tender spring grass under oak trees that were just starting to leaf out. The flowers caught the cool sunlight, turned it blue, and shot it into my heart.
Dwarf Larkspur was one of the first native wildflowers I discovered on my own. I absolutely had to grow some. For my first try, I planted seeds in my flower garden. The next spring, I looked for the seedlings every day. OK, several times a day.
I got nothing. Not one larkspur sprout. Maybe something ate the seeds. Maybe the spot was too sunny. Maybe the seeds simply weren’t viable.
The next year I tried two ways. I had only a dozen seeds left, so I put one pot of seeds outdoors in a frame, protected from animals but open to rain and snow. Another pot went into the fridge for 90 days, and then into the outdoor frame.
From both batches I got seedlings, tiny cotyledons. They grew no taller than an inch that summer. I didn’t even transplant them into the ground but let them spend another year in the protected frame. That paid off, because the following spring the plants came up with leaves of the characteristic Larkspur shape. Yay.
I planted them out under a big Pin Oak. They grew fast until the oak’s leaves interrupted their view of the sun. Then they dwindled away. Dwarf Larkspur is a spring ephemeral. It takes advantage of the early season light, before the leaves fill out, and then it goes dormant until the next year.
Last spring, my Dwarf Larkspurs sent up budded stalks. Less than a foot tall, full of promise. Ahh.
They bloomed gloriously. I collected half a tablespoon of seeds. Today I planted most of those seeds, again in two containers. I took the time to place each seed with its own inch of elbow room. One batch in the outdoor box, covered by a mesh bag. The other in the fridge, to come out on April 13.
It will be two or three years before I see the purple of their blossoms. They will be lovely under the Pin Oak. And I can wait.
Dwarf Larkspur is not abundant in Iowa. I’ve found it in only a few places, always in the sheltering shade of big deciduous trees. They are a treasure.
The Dwarf Larkspur is lovely and one of two native delphiniums in Iowa. But as a rural Van Buren resident with dogs, cats, horses and neighbors with these and cattle, I would not want any delphinium growing here as it might poison these animals as well as humans who might handle it or try eating it. Worse yet the plants might spread to the pastures of others. Many cattle both in western and southern states die from eating delphiniums every year. People are advised to take care in handling the plants, especially the seed, as some people can react to even that much contact with the alkaloids in them. In town, hopefully you can safely enjoy them and you know by now that you can safely handle them. The only advantage of this toxicity is that wild animals like deer and rabbits have evolved or learned to not eat them.
Ahh yes, Larkspur! How my Mom loved, and taught me to love, wild (and tame!) flowers of blue. Who wouldn't just adore Lupine? Or, Lobelia...especially the "white-eyed" variety! She would have so enjoyed your dedication to those precious Larkspur seeds, Diane. As do I! Sweet.