Hybrid Columbine

Hybrid Columbine

Aquilegia ‘Swan Red and White’

(a-kwi-LEE-jee-uh)

This is always a favorite of mine. This plant has nice big, detailed and colorful flowers. Columbines are a true biennial but if you try you can start a nice patch of them by spreading the seeds out when they are ripe. My experience is that some types come back true to seed and some don’t. There is also that gray genetic zone where for a few years they come back the same color and then wash out. I’m not sure what the Swan hybrid series will do. The plants did well this year and I wouldn’t mind having some of them back.

Blue Columbine

Columbine

Aquilegia

(a-kwi-LEE-jee-uh)

This wonderful colored Columbine came up in a patch of seedlings. The mother plants have long since disappeared only being vigorous for a couple of seasons. I was happy to have it and hopefully it will seed itself.

It’s coming to the time of year where I gather up a lot of pictures for use during the winter. There could be pictures from any time of the year.

Cappadocian navelwort

Omphalodes cappadocica

(om-fal-LOW-deez) (kap-puh-do-SEE-ka)

"The little windflower, whose just opened eye is blue as the spring heaven it gazes at."

William C. Bryant

This is a nifty shade groundcover if you can provide the right moisture and light.

Columbines

Columbine
Aquilegia
(a-kwi-LEE-jee-uh)

Columbine flowers are always nice to have. I just wish the breeders would come up with some true perennial strains. Replacing them or depending on the seedlings can be a chore and often the seedlings don’t end up where you want them. This first flower is more of the traditional type with large flowers, big spurs and muted colors. The second shot is like the newer types with compact flowers and brighter colors. I am not sure whether or not that is a different species or just a new variety. There seems to be a few new ones every year.

Columbine

Columbine
Aquilegia
(a-kwi-LEE-jee-uh)

After doing some housekeeping on my hard drives and writing some back up DVDs I found this picture of a Columbine taken in May of 2008. It isn’t too often you get such a nicely colored seedling. The subtle color on this flower is appealing to me.

Most Columbines in the my garden tend to last only a couple of years before dying off and I am tending to classify them more as a biennial than perennial. The seedlings do continue on in the area and I have made a point of distributing the seed in a little bit larger area then what naturally occurs. This photo was taken with a Nikon Coolpix 5400 camera. It is a nice camera but has been sitting idle on the shelf for quite a while now.

Cardinal Columbine

Red Columbine
Aquilegia 'Cardinal'
(a-kwi-LEE-jee-a)

This red Columbine was a very nice sight to see. The darkness of the red combined with the white and yellowwas stunning. ‘Cardinal’ is part of the Songbird series of Columbine, which is known for its bright colors and large, long lasting flowers. One thing I noticed about ‘Cardinal’ was the flowers were held a little more upright than most Columbines. That made viewing and picture taking a lot easier.

These flowers are fairly adaptable to grow in the garden. Ideally they like morning sun but a little shade during the hottest part of the day. They do not like to dry out but do not need constant watering. If happy they will self seed and for me the mother plants usually only last a year or two but the planting can develop into a nice group over a couple of years.

See more spring flowers from all over the world at Today’s Flowers .

Just for fun and the fact that it is Flowers from Today here is a shot of a flat of Sweet Alyssum (Lobularia maritima) that we purchased. It sure smelled good.

White Hybrid Columbine

White Hybrid Columbine
Aquilegia 'Songbird Dove'
(a-kwi-LEE-jee-a)

Today's Flowers - Louisiana Iris

Louisiana Iris
Iris 'Bold Pretender'
(EYE-ris)
Today's Flowers

This Iris was introduced in 1983 and still looks good today. The color combination is nice and it is a good bloomer. Louisiana Iris are quite hardy and really needs a moist site to survive and be happy. In fact it can grow right at the edge of the pond or in boggy conditions. It blooms in early summer. This one gets up to about 36 inches tall. It is a great color to have in the Iris collection.

This second flower is easily recognized as a Columbine. It is a new introduction to the Music Series called ‘Red and Gold’. It has large flowers and intense colors. Columbine is sometimes not perennial around here but usually seeds itself so you still have some long after the mother plants have gone. Like the Louisiana Iris it is native to the United States and the species Aquilegia caerules is the state flower of Colorado. In fact it is protected there and the law prohibits “digging or uprooting the flower on public lands and limits the gathering of buds, blossoms and stems to 25 in one day. It is unlawful to pick the columbine on private land without consent of the land owner.”


Since it Sunday and that means Today’s Flowers so here is an extra shot of some Peonies. We have been working at a garden that has a lot of different cultivars and they are really doing outstanding this year.


I have to work today as the business we are landscaping is closed so I am not sure how many people I will get to visit.

For more flower pictures from around the world check out:
Today’s Flowers .

Wordless Wednesday

Brazilian Jasmine
Mandevilla
(man-de-VILL-uh)

Hybrid Columbine
Aquilegia 'Songbird Blue Jay'
(a-kwi-LEE-jee-a)

Double European Columbine

Wordless Wednesday
European Columbine

Aquilegia vulgaris 'Winky Red and White Double'

(a-kwi-LEE-jee-a) (vul-GAIR-iss)

Synonyms: European Crowfoot, Granny's Bonnet