Delphinium, Candle Delphinium, Larkspur 'New Millennium Pagan Purples'

I have not grown this specific plant, but have grown larkspur successfully. Several years ago, I planted several seed packets worth of p...Read Moreurple, white and pink (mostly purple) larkspur. Don't remember what cultivar. They grew and flowered beautifully. When they were finished blooming I pulled them out and sprinkled the seeds all over the bed, hoping they would re-seed and come back. That happened for 3 yrs. Now I have lasagna-gardened the bed and it's hard to plant seeds due to the newspaper layer.
My question is--is this really a larkspur, the annual form of delphinium, or the perennial true delphinium? The comments make me wonder if the plant comes back with new plants through re-seeding or the same plants each year. I would love to get this plant because of the deep purple color and later blooming time.

Planted within 2 feet of the house foundation, tucked in a corner, northfacing. Tall and lanky, this plant definitely needs staking, bec...Read Moreause the stems aren't strong enough to hold the weight of a heavy bloom. Spectacular color.

I planted this delphinium last summer; this was my first attempt to grow these supposedly fussy plants. I got several blooms, cut the st...Read Morealks down, and it rebloomed. The flowers are long lasting, so I would say the bloom period covered a majority of the summer. The stems are indeed brittle and broke off in some wind; I have staked it much more securely this year. Despite many people telling me this would likely not come back, it surely did and is large, full, and already blooming beautifully at the beginning of June. This variety is a really stunning deep purple and blue combination. I do bait for slugs and I put down some time-release fertilizer this spring; because of good rainfall I have only watered it a few times. It may or may not return again next year, but if it doesn't, I will absolutely go buy another one!
Update 2011: it's back, bigger and better than ever.
Update 2012: it's back, and at least three of the flower stalks are now 7 feet tall. It's fabulous!

I grew my plant from seed, and though the flower color is the same as those pictured here, the flower stem was not full but lanky.
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My pagan purple delphinium produced one stem of flowers. It bloomed for a few weeks and was absolutely extraordinary in beauty. As it obtained 5' I failed to stake it well enough and a bird landed on the stem and snapped it off.

This flower had violet inner petals with deep blue outer petals.