43 AQUILEGIA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



AQUILEGIA. 



kinds. They require to be carefully planted 

 in sandy or gritty though moist ground, and 

 in well-drained ledges in the rock-garden, 

 in half-shady positions or northern ex- 



A white Aquilegia. 



posures. Most rare Columbines, how- 

 ever, fail to form enduring tufts in our 

 gardens, and they must be raised from 

 seed as frequently as good seed can be 

 got. It is the alpine character of the 



home of many of the Columbines which 

 makes the culture of some of the lovely 

 kinds so uncertain, and which causes 

 them to thrive so well in the north of 

 Scotland while they fail in our ordinary 

 dry garden borders. No plants are more 

 capricious ; take, for instance, the charm- 

 ing A. glandulosa, grown like a weed at 

 Forres, in Scotland, and so short-lived 

 in most gardens. Nor is this an excep- 

 tion ; it is characteristic of all the 

 mountain kinds. The best soil for them 

 is deep, well-drained, rich alluvial loam. 

 It is probable many of the species are 

 biennial, and that it is necessary to raise 

 them from seed frequently ; and to avoid 

 the results of crossing it is better to get 

 the seed, if we can, from the wild home 

 of the species. The seeds should be sown 

 early in spring, and the young plants 

 pricked out into pans or into an old garden 

 frame as soon as they are fit to handle, 

 removing them early in August to the 

 borders ; select a cloudy day for the work, 

 and give them a little shading for a few 

 days. 



A. alpina (Alpine Columbine). A 

 beautiful high mountain plant i ft. to 2 ft. 

 high, with showy blue flowers, and there 

 is a lovely variety with a white centre 

 to the flower. In the rock-garden in a 

 rather moist and sheltered, but not shady, 

 spot in deep sandy loam or peat. Seed 

 or division. 



A. Bertoloni. A pretty little alpine, 

 about I ft. high, with violet-blue flowers 

 having short knobby spurs. 



A. californica (Californian Columbine]. 

 One of the finest of the American 

 species, with one bold woody stem, 3 ft. 

 high, and handsome, bright orange 

 flowers. The seeds should be carefully 

 looked after, as having once blossomed 

 the old plant may perish. This plant 

 thrives best on a deep sandy loam and 

 moist. 



A. canadensis (Canadian Columbine}. 

 The flowers are smaller than the 

 Western American kinds ; but this is 

 compensated for by the brilliancy of the 

 scarlet colour of the sepals and of the 

 erect spurs, and by the bright yellow of 

 the petals. The true plant is a slender 

 grower, I ft. in height. It is a plant for 

 borders, or placing here and there among 

 dwarf shrubs and plants in the rougher 

 parts of the rock-garden. 



A. chrysantha (Golden Columbine}. 

 This tall and beautiful species endures 

 as a perennial on many soils where the 

 other kinds perish, thriving even on the 

 stiff clay soils north of London, though it 

 is no less free in more happy situations. 



