page 2 aquilegia

If you are looking to attract butterflies to your perennial garden then be sure to plant Columbine plants this spring. Columbine has perfectly designed flowers to feed them and these flowers hold large quantities of nectar that they love. The striking mixture of flower colours will brighten any garden. Plants will grow best in partial shade but will do well in full sun. The flower colours are endless and many bi-colour forms are available. The flowers begin in late spring and last until early summer. Each plant will produce flowers for 4 to 6 weeks on strong stems that sway with the spring breeze. Growing tips Aquilegias lend themselves to cottagey or semi-wild settings. They love deep, rich soil. Most garden varieties do not resent clay, but alpine types prefer well-drained loam. When planting, work in extra humus: old muck or garden compost is best. Mulch with the same material. Remove seed heads before they disperse their contents, otherwise the parent plant may be crowded out by its own offspring. Save the seed and sow it fresh if you want more plants elsewhere. All aquilegias have wonderful foliage that emerges early in the year, creating tuffets of bright green among the sharp verticals of daffodils and other bulbs. They are among the most telling of springtime plants, both for foliage and for flowers. Aquilegia longissima is an exquisite flower. Its petals are a pale, soft, buttery yellow, and its spurs - of a deeper yellow, and sometimes up to 6in (15cm) long - are swept elegantly back, giving the whole flower the look of a ship's figurehead. Long-spurred hybrids have been developed from it and from several other American species: its close cousin A. chrysantha; A. formosa, which has dainty red-and-yellow flowers; and A. coerulea, a graceful blue-and-white columbine with finely divided "maidenhair" leaves, which the State of Colorado in the USA has adopted as its emblem. Aquilegias are sold in 2ltr or 3ltr pots

Aquilegia

Scientific Name : Aquilegia columbine Common Name : Grannys Bonnet Blooming Season : Spring, Summer Plant Habit : Upright Water : Medium Position : Dappled Shade to Full Sun Height : 15inches

Alton Aresford Burley

Emsworth Ellingham & Ringwood Hamble

Petersfield Ringwood Southsea

Southampton Bedford Place Winchester The Broadway