Climbing Aconite: How Hardy

>A friend of mine is interested in a climbing species of Aconite, A
volubile
that she saw in an English 
catalogue.  The catch is that being an English catalogue it just says the
plant is hardy.  I know a lot of aconites will handle very cold winters,
but what about this one?  We are in USDA 4, and usually have pretty good
snow cover during the worst temperatures.  Any body either grown it or have
it in their reference books?<

I have grown Aconitum volubile for about six years, admittedly in South
East England, which I think is roughly equivalent to Zone 7, although with
cooler summers. It is reliably hardy with me, and I am sure that I remember
hearing someone include it once in a talk about alpines, as it originates
in much colder climes than ours (Himalayas I think) It is completely
herbaceous, so I think it would be well worth a try in pretty cold
conditions.

It is a very easy plant - I grew mine from seed from one of the seed
exchanges, either Hardy Plant Society or Alpine Garden Society, and had
dozens of plants, but I think the seed needs to be fresh, like most
ranunculacae, to get good germination. 

A. volubile is a very useful climber, not too vigorous, but flowering late
in the season, right into the autumn when most of the other climbers have
finished. It's not spectacular and the colour can vary from muddy mauve to
really deep purple. Probably advisable to grow from seed and select the
best.

Barbara Barklem
Woking, Surrey, UK
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