The same vertical drama. One is a staked aristocrat, one a workhorse that cuts all season.
Shot to one scale: bloom beside bloom, from our own library.
The verdicts, line by line
Every line below is a field of the open table, not an opinion.
In the vase
Only snapdragon carries published vase trials (7 to 10 days); for delphinium elatum no postharvest record exists, and we do not guess.
In the garden
Both come back, but not everywhere: delphinium elatum shrugs off zone 3 winters while snapdragon taps out below zone 7. On upkeep the table sides with snapdragon: rated medium maintenance against high.
The full card
A line is marked only where one flower clearly leads. Equal or too-close values are left plain.
| Field | Delphinium elatum | Snapdragon |
|---|---|---|
| Vase life, days | no trials published | 7 to 10 |
| Wholesale, per stem | no price on record | $0.38 to $1.50 |
| Fragrance | not recorded | Lightly fragrant |
| Light | Full sun (6 or more hours a day) | Full sun to partial shade |
| Water | Medium; needs cool, evenly moist soil | Medium |
| Hardiness zones | 3 to 7 | 7 to 10 |
| Bloom months | 2 months | 7 months |
| Deer (Rutgers) | Seldom severely damaged (Rutgers rating B) | Rarely damaged (Rutgers A) |
| Cats (ASPCA) | Toxic | Listed non-toxic |
| Out of water | not recorded | Fair |
We keep one table of 85 flowers, with 25 documented facts each, drawn from university and extension sources. Every ranking is a published formula worth 100 points; tap any score and it unfolds into the lines that made it. A flower that does not fit the question is not scored lower: it is excluded, and the reason is shown. When the table changes, every score and stamp updates itself. The full method ↗
Read the full profile
Everything the table holds on each of them, in plain prose.
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