Growing Wise : columbine

Elusive Aquilegia

Elisabeth — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 13:20:00 GMT

No garden should be without columbine (Aquilegia). The flowers are unique, the colors are exquisite and even the lobed green leaves are attractive. (In fact, the leaves look good even when they are beset by the great columbine pest, leaf miner.)

But be aware that columbines are full of suprises. Buy even one this year and chances are, next year you will have many little plants. Columbine self-seeds with wild abandon. This isn't really a problem because the little seedlings are easy to transplant. The colors of the offspring may surprise you, however. Fortunately most columbine colors harmonize with other columbine colors and you may end up with some serendipitous combinations.

If you like those combinations, they will enrich your garden. If not, wait a season. Columbine tend to appear and disappear according to their own rules. I used to have many blue and blue-purple flowered plants in one bed in my back garden. The originals seem to have disappeared and now I have a nice clump of them in a nearby bed. The newcomers bloom later and some of them are pink. I treasure them right now, but know that I shouldn't get too comfortable with the display. Next year it is likely to be different.

Columbine is probably not for the person who likes to control everything--unless that person also likes to transplant interloping plants. For those of us who enjoy an element of serendipity in the garden, they are one of the best choices.

Filling Space

Elisabeth — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 13:44:00 GMT

Sometimes answers come to you out of the blue. Today was one of those times for me.

I have some empty space under a maple tree in the strip between the sidewalk and the street. Hostas will work well there, but I wanted some spring color as well. While I was on my knees weeding behind a large yew shrub I found the answer--columbine.

My columbines, like everyone else's, are rampant self-seeders. Large numbers of those seeds apparently found their way to the quiet place behind the yew and went about the business or reproducing. Now all I have to do is transplant them and my problem will be solved--quickly, elegantly and cheaply.

So, the next time you have space to fill, look around for self-sown annuals or overgrown perennials and transplant or divide them. Think of it as recycling.

Columbines

Elisabeth — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 13:28:00 GMT

Everywhere I look in my yard I can see the distinctive, lobed leaves of columbine (Aquilegia). Many of the plants are about to bloom and I can't wait, because the backyard display changes every year.

The word "columbine" is from the Latin "columbinus," which means, according to Bill Neal, author of Gardener's Latin, "like a dove". In this case, the reference is more specific, indicating "flowers shaped like a group of doves."

Columbine have graceful, open flowers and I can see why someone long ago thought that they looked like doves. Many species sport elongated petal "spurs," which resemble tails.

In my garden those doves have settled everywhere. Over the course of the last nine years I have planted several species and varieties of columbine. Some are the well-known 'McKana's Giant' (above, left), which are tall and flower in many colors. I also have the old-fashioned double or "granny's bonnet" type, which are sometimes called "pleated" columbine. In one of the shady areas, there are a few 'Black Barlow' plants (below, left), with lots of petals, but none of the characteristic spurs. The offspring of all those varieties pop up at random wherever there is a bit of soil.

Columbine hybridize freely among themselves, so just about everyone who plants more than a few will end up with some interesting new specimens. The plants are also relatively short-lived, so sometimes you will find an unexpected empty space where you used to have a columbine. It's highly likely, though, that you will also have some new, self-sown plants not too far away.

Columbines come in lots of lovely colors including pure white, yellow, all shades of pink and red, blues, purples and some that appear almost black. Several years ago I planted a whole bed with blue and white columbines. A few blue and white-flowered plants are still in that bed, along with a lot of mysterious purple offspring. I am not complaining. They still make a great spring picture.

Good Neighbors

Elisabeth — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 14:11:00 GMT

Like most gardeners, I get excited when I find plants that bloom at the same time and work well together. Several years ago I planted bleeding heart (Dicentra spectabilis) and a columbine mixture in a small bed in my back garden. Both species flowered at the same time, and the combination was perfect. The "hearts" on the bleeding heart are pink with a very slight blue cast, which worked perfectly with the blue-flowered columbine in the batch of mixed plants. After the first year, the blue columbines seemed to reseed more readily than those with white or pink flowers. Eventually I moved the white and pink ones and let the blues reproduce at will. This particular plant combination also succeeds in indoor flower arrangements.

This year I may also try adding the western bleeding heart (Dicentra formosa, sometimes known as Dicentra eximia). The flowers are similar in color to those of the common bleeding heart, though the "hearts" are a little more elongated. The western species has the added advantage of luxurious fern-like leaves, which would add a new dimension to the display.