my little blog celebrating the simple things in life

Sunday 17 April 2011

Spring garden- aquilegias





(Pictured above is Semi-aquilegia 'Little Lanterns')
I love this time of year but I can't seem to keep up with the weeds in the gard
en. Even though we have a drought here in the east of england the weeds still manage to grow lush and green. One genus of plants that don't seem to mind being on the dry side are aquilegias (aka grannnies bonnets) The deep dark double one above was a chance seedling that appeared in my garden. I love its dark dusky perfection.

Aquilegias are easily grown from seed but it helps if the seed is as fresh as it can be and germination is sporadic. At the moment I am trying Aquilegia 'Green Apples' and a few seedlings are up so hopefully next year I'll have a new variety to admire. I have just the place for them too, in my shady corner where I have ferns and saxifragas.

The bicoloured aquilegia in the photo above is 'William Guiness' or 'Magpie', not sure if it has aphids or a spiders web on it, looks a little dusty, but I don't use any chemicals in my garden so everything has to take its chance. works quite well most of the time.