Aquilegia canadensis 'Little Lanterns'
From Klehm's Song Sparrow in spring 2018(2019 added three more from High Country Gardens)
Aquilegia sp. 'Swallowtail'
From Waterwise plant sale in August 2018
Aquilegia 'Black Barlow'
From Sooner Plant Farm in spring 2020
Expectations:
Columbines want shade. They are short lived but re-seed easily.
'Swallowtail' is a showy yellow bloomer with very long spurs, and it gets quite tall. It is not a hybrid, so it should seed true. In my old garden the hybrid mixed columbines I planted all reverted to muddy purple.
'Swallowtail' is a reliable performer, blooming each year on time in early May, then bulking up more as May progresses.
'Little Lanterns' is tiny, with red flowers. It comes true from seed so the plants should re-seed red and tiny. It's a tidy, low (10 inches tall) columbine with smaller flowers.
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| 'Little Lanterns' is a dwarf size. It should look like this. |
'Black Barlow' is inky dark and dramatic. It also comes true from seed.
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| 'Black Barlow' in my CT garden |
Experiences:
In August 2018 I planted 5 very large, robust specimens of the clear yellow 'Swallowtail' in the dining room window garden.
They stayed surprisingly fresh looking, with full green foliage all summer and fall. I added a few more and they bulked up and made a big lush stand.
I also put three in the potting bench curve in 2021.
Over the past couple years the lush stand in the dining room window garden has diminished by about half, but it's still a good clump of pretty flowers.
I do get seedlings, and have moved a few of the tiny plants around where I want them.
'Little Lanterns' are hard to see when they open in early April, and are not noticeable against the mulch. They do go on and on blooming for a long time, but are barely seen. In 2019 I added three more, spread along the front of the dining room window garden. They're all hard to see.
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| 2023 |
In 2020 I put three very large 'Black Barlow' plants from Sooner Plant Farm at the back of the potting bench curve against the garage wall so their dramatic dark flowers would show against the stucco.
Nice sized plants, but two died. I got a replacement in 2021, but believe that too is gone, leaving just the one now.
In my old garden 'Black Barlow' was eye catching but disappeared before suddenly coming back in full flower after many years of being no shows.