Growing Granny’s Bonnets “Granny’s Bonnets” or columbine are easy to grow, reliable and tough perennials that have popped up in cottage gardens from time immemorial. The proper name, aquilegia, comes from the Latin for “eagle” from the resemblance of the shape of the flower to an eagle’s claw. Most books will tell you to plant them in moist soil with a little shade. Most aquilegias will also sow themselves into the driest, hottest parts of your garden and be perfectly content although the flowers may not last so long. There are diminutive types for the alpine garden and large, long-stemmed types for the border. All are easy to grow from seed, although named varieties might not always come true. Aquilegia are notoriously promiscuous and if you grow more than one type, they will cross with gay abandon producing mixed seedlings in a range of shapes and colours. If buying seed, you can sow in April outdoors and have good sized plants to plant out in Autumn. If saving your own seed, sow in trays in a cold frame as soon as the seed is ripe and plant these out in March the following year.
by Martin Blow
“McKenna Hybrid” plants flowering away in my parents’ garden all my young life. The large flowers with their long backward facing spurs were an irresistible delight to me. These “long-spurred” types are the result of crossing two wild American types: chrysantha, with yellow flowers and caerulea with blue. Lots of colours including red, pink and purple, often in partnership with white are now available. Other species from America worth growing from seed are the red and yellow skinnerii and canadensis. I find these do appreciate a little more shade, more moisture in summer and better drainage in winter than some. The European native vulgaris are the more traditional granny’s bonnets usually in purple. Lots of colours
You can also divide plants with care, but these divisions do take a while to root. Remember, all parts of the plants including the seeds are poisonous. Aquilegias can be short-lived, going past their best after two or three years but I remember the same Continued over
11
