Columbine
From LoveToKnow Garden
Columbine (Aquilegia) - Alpine rock, and meadow perennials of the Buttercup order, often beautiful and widely distributed over the northern and mountain regions of Europe, Asia, and America. Of great variety in color—white, rose, buff, blue, and purple, and also stripes and intermediate shades, the American kinds having yellow, scarlet, and most delicate shades of blue flowers. Frequently taller than most of the plants strictly termed alpine, they are true alpine plants, and among the most singularly beautiful of the class. On the sunny hills of the Sierras in California, one meets with a large scarlet Columbine, that has almost the vigour of a Lily, and in the mountains of Utah, and on many others in the Rocky Mountain region, there is the Rocky Mountain Columbine (A. coerulea), with its long and slender spurs and lovely cool tints, and there is no family that has a wider share in adorning the mountains. The rarer alpine kinds should be planted in sandy or gritty though moist ground, and in well-drained ledges in the rock garden, in half-shady positions or northern exposures. Most rare Columbines fail to form enduring tufts in our gardens, and they must be raised from seeds as often as good seed can be got. It is the alpine character of the home of many of the Columbines which makes the culture of some of the lovely kinds so uncertain, and which causes them to thrive so well in the North of Scotland while they fail in our ordinary dry garden borders. No plants are more capricious; the charming A. glandulosa, grows like a weed at Forres, in Scotland, and is so short-lived in most gardens. The best soil for them is deep, well-drained, rich, alluvial loam. As probably many of the species are biennial, it is necessary to raise them from seed frequently; and to avoid the results of crossing it is better to get the seed, if we can, from the wild home of the species. Sow early in spring, and prick the young plants out into pans or into an old garden frame as soon as they are fit to handle, removing them early in August to the borders. Choose a cloudy day for the work, and give them a little shading for a few days.
Collinsia Pictures
Aquilegia L. |
Aquilegia L.columbine |
Aquilegia L.columbine |
Aquilegia barnebyi Munz oil shale columbine |
Aquilegia caerulea James Colorado blue columbine |
Aquilegia caerulea |
Related Flowers
Alpine C.
Alpine C. (Aquilegia Alpina) - A beautiful high mountain plant 1 foot to 2 feet high, with showy blue flowers, and there is a lovely variety with a white centre to the flower. In the rock garden it should have a rather moist and sheltered, but not shady, spot in deep sandy loam or peat. Seed or division.
Californian C.
Californian C. (Aquilegia Californica) - One of the finest of the American species, with one bold woody stem, 3 feet high, and bright orange flowers. The seeds should be carefully looked after, as having once blossomed the old plant may perish. Thrives best on a deep sandy loam and moist.
Canadian C.
Canadian C. (Aquilegia Canadensis) - The flowers are smaller than the W. American kinds. This is compensated for by the brilliancy of the scarlet color of the sepals and of the erect spurs, and by the bright yellow of the petals. The true plant is a slender grower, 1 foot in height. A plant for borders, or placing here and there among dwarf shrubs and plants in the rougher parts of the rock garden.
Golden C.
Golden C. (Aquilegia Chrysantha) - This tall and beautiful species is perennial on many soils where the other kinds perish, thriving even on the stiff clay soils north of London. It comes true from seed, which is most safely raised under glass.
Rocky Mountain C.
Rocky Mountain C. (Aquilegia Coerulea) - This is very beautiful, the green-tipped spurs of the flower being as slender as a thread, and having a tendency to twist round each other. It is hardy, flowering early in summer, from 12 inches to 15 inches high, worthy of the best position on the rock garden, and in choice mixed borders, where the soil is free and deep. Unlike the Golden Columbine, it is not perennial on many soils, though longer-lived in cool hill gardens. To get healthy plants that will flower freely, seeds should be sown annually.
Altaian C.
Altaian C. (Aquilegia Glandulosa) - A beautiful plant of tufted habit, flowering in early summer-a fine blue, with tips of petals creamy-white, the spur curved backwards towards the stalks, the sepals dark blue, large, with a long footstalk. It is a native of the Altai Mountains, and one of the most precious flowers for the rock garden, in deep sandy soil. Seed and division.
Aquilegia Viridiflora
Aquilegia Viridiflora - A fragrant Siberian Columbine, the sage-green of the flower and the delicate tint of the leaf offering a delicate harmony. In the border it may not be noticed, but if a spray or two are put in a glass its beauty is seen. Seed.
Common C.
Common C. (Aquilegia Vulgaris) - There are many forms of this, and double kinds, flowering from May till towards the end of summer. Its varieties, and some hybrid forms, may well be used in the more picturesque parts of large pleasure grounds, by streams and in copses. Where bare places occur, and seedlings have a chance of coming up without being strangled by other plants, seed may be scattered as soon as ripe.
Related Flowers
Skinner's C.
Skinners C. (Aquilegia Skinneri) - A distinct plant, the flowers produced later on slender pedicles, the sepals greenish, the petals small and yellow; the spurs are 2 inches long and bright orange-red. Though from Guatemala, it comes from mountain districts, and is nearly hardy. While the name is often seen, the true plant is rare.
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