African Garden + summer

All My Aquilegias

First, let's get one thing straight, I am Not obsessed with Aquilegias. Really, I'm not. They are not my favorite flower, they aren't fragrant, they don't bloom all summer. I don't even have the native species (although I have been thinking about getting 'Little Lanterns' or the all yellow-flowered form). I don't like the Clematiflora types or the huge McKana's Giant types.

What I do like are Aquilegias with variegated or chartreuse foliage. They look good even when not in flower.

I started off with ordinary Columbines when I first planted the garden.

My plain green foliaged, purple flowered Columbines are offspring of 'Henson Harebell' (or as I used to call it, 'Henson Hairball') and Aquilegia alpina and Aquilegia vulgaris. This pink is a seedling of the 'Biedermeier' strain.

These poor, neglected Aquilegia have been relegated to the border on the north side of the house.

I keep these plants because they seem to bloom longer than the variegated types. I deadhead these plants consistently, because I don't want any more plain foliaged Aquilegias. So why, then, was my most recent Aquilegia purchase this plain foliaged Aquilegia alpina?

Really, I'm not obsessed.

Over 10 years ago, I discovered variegated Aquilegias. I don't have good luck with commercial seed, so I bought plants mail order. I started with 'Woodside Blue.' This is the last of the three original plants.

Many gardeners complain that Aquilegias are not long lived. This plant is over 10 years old. I'm not an Aquilegia expert, I haven't published any monographs on Aquilegias, but from observing these plants in my garden, I have concluded that not allowing the plants to go to seed will prolong their life. I generally let only one or two flowers per plant go to seed. Similarly, the Aquilegia 'Leprechaun Gold' on the right is also over 10 years old.

Somehow, all these Columbines cross bred with the 'Woodside Blue' to yield something very much like 'Woodside Golden.'

I like these more than 'Woodside Blue' and have begun selecting these seedlings, but that doesn't make me obsessed.

'Leprechaun Gold' breeds true to form so that I have more purple Aquilegia than anything else. While I like the purple against the green and yellow variegation,

I'm selecting plants for mostly gold foliage. I love the incredible contrast

(I swear I'm not obsessed).

I've found seedling Aquilegias do better if I dig them up from the garden and grow them on in pots, although fresh-sown seed does well in containers also. Really, I'm not obsessed, just because I have all these seedlings (and more) growing in containers.

I transfer them to gallon pots if they look promising. At the moment, I am attempting to breed my new favorite Aquilegia, 'Sunburst Ruby.' Last spring, I ordered three 'Sunburst Ruby,' and I planted three 'Sunburst Ruby.' I now have one 'Sunburst Ruby.' One died and the other is pink flowered (you know how promiscuous those Aquilegias are).

So I allowed one flower on each plant to go to seed and this spring I have been transplanting the babies to pots.

I'm hoping for at least two more with the golden foliage and ruby flowers. I'm thinking of hand pollinating 'Sunburst Ruby' with pollen from its own flowers. That way I'm more likely to get the true strain. Besides, the nasty Carpenter Bee has screwed up the pollination of the Aquilegias this year. I suspect that all of the variegated forms are related to each other as they all have semi-double flowers, although a single plant can have both types of flowers.

Aquilegias are not perfect plants. They have to have their foliage cut back after flowering because it gets disfigured by leaf miners. The last several years have seen attacks by Columbine sawfly larva, which look like little green caterpillars. Left unchecked, they can defoliate a plant, prevent it from blooming and seriously weaken it. I check the leaves every day for the little beasties that squish so easily between my gloved fingers. (So far, I haven't found any yet this year.) Now that doesn't sound obsessed, does it? And even if it does, can you blame me?