Amazing Aquilegias

The columbine is one of those classic cottage-garden flowers that comes in a range of colours and pleases almost everyone. Graham Rice looks at why we love aquilegias

- Graham Rice

SO, why do many of us love aquilegias? First, there’s the complete rainbow of colours, including green, not to mention pure white and almost genuine black. Some are what’s known as ‘selfs’, all the parts in the flower the same colour, but there are many with bicoloured flowers.

The double-flowered forms are among the most tempting, and they come in three types: the starry stellata or clematiflora types, with flowers like those of double clematis. Then there is the Barlow Series, based on the favourite ‘Nora Barlow’, which has flowers packed with slender petals. And finally there are those simply known as doubles, florepleno or pleated, with one flower set inside another. All except the stellata and Barlow types have curved spurs filled with nectar. But, confusingly, all those with extra petals have been called granny’s bonnets.

Foliage and flowers

A few varieties even have golden or variegated leaves, as well as pretty flowers, and these provide good value before and after the June and July flowers have come and gone. On top of that tempting range of flowers and flower colours, columbines are also easy to grow, and self-sown seedlings will pop up in your garden so it’s not essential to buy fresh seed every year.

Self-seeding

So what’s the problem? Well, some say that columbines shed too much seed and too many seedlings pop up all over the garden – and we never know what colour they will be until the flowers open.