Back to basics – Aquilegia
Most probably the first plant I grew successfully from seeds (that is, which I saw it flowering :) was an Aquilegia. I don’t remember precisely which one and it doesn’t matter; I like them all very much. They are easy to grow, provide a whole array of heights/colours and are good pollinator plants.
Yes, some are short lived, and yes, most will be attacked by leafminer, and of course, they hybridize and not all seedlings come true to the mother plant, but I still like them very much.
Aquilegia flabellata var. pumila has few of the above mentioned flaws: it usually comes true from seeds, and the thick, leathery foliage won’t be affected by the leafminer (or very weak attack); all ‘flabellatas’ could be grown just for their handsome, fan-shaped foliage.
Aquilegia flabellata var.pumila – cute as a ‘button’ ; grown from seeds of course
A. flabelata ‘Nana Alba’ will be flowering soon…
Update – and it did, not a ‘nana’ but very beautiful!
My favourite is A. discolour. They amaze me with their tiny leaf fan being smaller than your thumbnail and flowers almost as large as those of flabellata.
Yes, that’s a very cute one as well. A few years ago I thought I grew one but it didn’t match very well the description. It came from ORGS seedex actually – if I remember well as ‘cross of saximontana’. It is the one in the shop given as A. ‘Blue Crossings’- tiny foliage and huge flowers. I lost it but now have seedlings again, don’t know if they’ll flower.
It is “as cute as a button” like you say! The A. vulgaris are all flowering away in the gardens here, self seeded everywhere and a cross between most welcome and a blessed nuisance. The bees love them and they are a lovely splash of colour and therefore will stay where they are, for the moment anyway!
Lovely all. A. vulgaris is not in the garden, because I have A. canadensis and few other species to hybridize to their wish :) I
think the long spurred species won’t cross that easy with the regular ones (I may be wrong….).
I love them all, the flabelata is garden persistent but I especially love the deep blue vulgaris types.
Instead of vulgaris I have A. nigricans, from seeds coll. from Carpathians; deep blue flowers with a tinge of violet :)