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Aquilegia vulgaris
columbine
Charming bonnet-like flowers with hooked spurs, nod gracefully from the branching, upright stems in late spring and early summer. The lush...
Plant description
These charming columbines are easy to grow and are useful for herbaceous borders and cottage gardens as well as more naturalised planting schemes including prairies.
Aquilegia will usually self-seed freely, but they are quite promiscuous plants that hybridise freely. Therefore if there are other aquilegias in your garden, it is possible that the next generation of plants will vary from their parent plants.
Eventual height & spread
Flowering period
- Jan
- Feb
- Mar
- Apr
- May
- Jun
- Jul
- Aug
- Sep
- Oct
- Nov
- Dec
Plant features
Position
Full sun / light shade
Rate of growth
Average
Soil
Moderately fertile, moist, well-drained soil
Hardiness
Fully hardy
How to care for Aquilegia vulgaris:
Remove faded flower stems to tidy the plant or leave them to self-seed.
Lift and divide large clumps in early spring and apply a generous 5–7cm (2–3in) mulch of well-rotted manure or garden compost around the plant. Divided specimens may take some time to establish since they don't like having their roots disturbed.
Sowing instructions:
GOES WELL WITH
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These cottage garden essentials take their name from Aquila, Latin for eagle, because the nectar-rich spurs at the back of the flower resemble eagle's talons. Their other common name, columbine, is also related to a bird. If you turn the flowers upside d
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