January 1, 2000

Looking past the computer screen and through our office window to the warm rain falling outside, straight down in large, heavy drops I can just about hear the powdery mildew action committee drawing up plans for attacking our delphinium plants. Well keep out, stay off, and go find a few courgettes or something will you!

Summer's here but hey, we don't get a break from a growing season save for a couple of months when things slow down a little, so you relax while you can, enjoy the view and let us do the hard work, stoking the bar-b-que, entertaining friends on the lawn, eating the fresh veggies. Only made you envious? Well too bad, you can come and help us weed sometime!

Janice and I recently shifted our delphinium breeding business (New Millennium Delphiniums) about 300 kilometers south to Wanganui, New Zealand and are experiencing our first summer here and yes, it's warm and humid and powdery mildew is threatening. Fortunately it is very selective, mainly attacking purple shades and some creams so these colours generally give an advance warning and remind me do get the sulphur out and try to keep the air moving.

Air moving? Of course moving the air outside is a tad difficult and helicopters do come on the expensive side in Wanganui.

n fact it can move its self fairly sharpish at times, but I digress. Pollination in the plastic growing house is now well under way. The English hybrid type delphiniums we breed tend to resist powdery mildew a little more than say, Pacific Giants do. Every little helps.

Growing our delphiniums under plastic gives more heat and a higher humidity. This is good for seed setting but rather hard on the plants. Again there is a good side. Growing delphinium in 25 to 30degC (80 ­ 90degF) temperatures naturally selects for plants that generally tolerate these conditions and this is indeed one of our aims. It is also useful to receive reports from customers in Canada, USA and Europe who tell us their frost hardiness is still very good too.

Of course if you have a loose leafed grey/purple tree like an Acacia purpurea (Wattles may not be hardy for you) you have the best of both worlds. We are developing delphinium display gardens over the next few years and will post pictures of such things on our web site where you can also find cultural information and the invidious, but necessary order form which I won't mention.

Cheers

Terry Dowdeswell