GARDENS
High and mighty
Growing to more than two metres tall, delphiniums have beautifully shaped blooms and flood flowerbeds with vivid colours. No wonder they’re adored by the King…
by LESLEY BELLEW
Godinton gardens
Purple reign Delphiniums can be found on the King’s Highgrove estate in The Walled Garden
as well as The Cottage Garden
and Sundial Garden
GAP PHOTOS, RACHAEL FAGG/GODINTON HOUSE & GARDENS, GAP PHOTOS/HIGHGROVE GARDENS
Delphiniums are the crowning glory of summer borders with towering spires of vivid blue, purple, dusky pink and white blooms. Few other plants add such height and drama to flowerbeds, so it’s no wonder these commanding perennials are King Charles’s favourites.
His Majesty, who is known for his love of gardens, has ‘an absolute passion for delphiniums’ and revealed during 2020’s virtual RHS Chelsea Flower Show that ‘the magnificent, gloriously apparelled delphinium, with its impeccable bearing and massed in platoons, holds pride of place in my botanical affections’.