Re: identity of aquilegias
Shelley,
Thankyou for describing your columbines but they aren't the
same. Although these come in a range of pinks,lilacs, white
and purple, none of them are bicoloured. They are not as
tall-growing as the common A. vulgaris and they seem to make
a more dense mound of foliage after flowering. They are
also the earliest columbines in my garden, weeks before A.
vulgaris. I have never had seedlings from them that appear
to be crosses with other columbines unless the cherry red
one gets its colour from our native A. formosa which appears
here and there in the garden. According to Phillips & Rix,
there is a red seedling of A. vulgaris though.
A. vulgaris 'Flore Pleno' is known to have strange mutants:
normal sepals but twice the usual number of petals; spurless
ones called 'Stormy Columbines'; and an upside-down one that
is shown in Gerard's Herball (1633) with numerous spurs
facing downwards on a nodding flower. This last appears to
be lost but may recur.
The ones I have appear (to me) to be a distinct strain,
growing true from seed over many decades. It has always
been a mystery to me why I have never seen them in other
gardens or seen them described in books. Unlike many hybrid
aquilegias, it is very long-lived and not particular as to
soil or location - or attention. This, and its ability to
self-seed true to form, is no doubt why it has survived
through generations of my family's gardens.
Diane
> Diane and Moira
>
> I was interested in this discussion and thought I had some
aquilegias which
> fitted your descriptions, and on checking I am sure they
are the same. I
> actually bought the plants by mail order from The Diggers
Club in Victoria.
> All the plants I bought were bicolours - purple/white,
pink/white and
> blue/white. However I now find I have single colour
seedlings, mostly blue
> but some pink, so they have crossed with the various A.
vulgaris, including
> blue, or A. alpina. Of the original plants, the pinks
have no spurs at
> all, and the blue/white and purple/white have tiny hooked
spurs. They
> start to flower in the middle of winter and provide some
very welcome
> colour at that time of the year.
>
> In another bed I also have some Nora Barlow who has spread
herself about
> and I now have a whole host of seedlings in different
colours but Nora
> Barlow's shape.
>
> After a totally dry and hot spring we have just had 130mm
of rain and the
> aquilegias and foxgloves have exploded into flower - I
probably have
> hundreds of seedlings now, all growing under mature
eucalyptus trees. Once
> flowering is over the aquilegia foliage looks good through
summer, although
> powdery mildew can be a problem if it is too dry.
>
> Shelley
>
>
> Shelley Harvey
> New England Tablelands
> Northern New South Wales
> Australia
>
