Delphinium brunonianum
16th June 1989
There is something rather tragic about a person who persists in growing food for slugs - or perhaps I'm just a lovely slimy
biodiversity hugging slugophile. Who can tell? For several years I cultivated the most delightful snacks
for molluscs but eventually I grew out of it. I still get wistful pangs from time to time and the urge to fill a greenhouse with
pots of munchy Delphinium.
I'm hoping that the recklessness of youth will reappear as reckless senility one day and that I will take one last stab at it before the marbles
vanish for good.
This is a short Himalayan species growing to about 15inches tall. As I recall, I was growing it because I couldn't get my hands on seed of any
of the really dwarf species - there are a few that in the right circumstances are little more than a rosette of leaves and a single big flower.
It is perhaps redundant to note that I woke up one morning to find it gone, with insufficient rootstock for a heroic recovery.