AQUILEGIAS (COLUMBINES). 131 



on a large scale. The Columbines come so readily 

 from seed sown in a frame in spring that there is no 

 necessity to look further as a means of propagation, 

 except in the case of some particularly beautiful 

 seedling, which may be kept true by division when it 

 spreads freely enough at the root to form distinct 

 outgrowths, but this it may not do until it has been 

 estabUshed a year or two. Such separation should 

 be effected in the winter or early in spring. It is not 

 possible at any age of the plants or any season of the 

 year in some gardens, because the plants will not 

 make sufficient growth at the root, rather tending to 

 dwindle away than to spread. This has led some 

 writers to advise that the plants be treated wholly as 

 biennials — that is, sown every spring to flower the 

 following year. Certainly the plan is simple and 

 inexpensive, and so far as human power applies makes 

 certain of a stock of plants. 



Lacking entirely the deep rich soil which we often 

 read to be needful for the Columbines, and yet seeing 

 them grow with great vigour and appear spontaneously 

 in many parts of the garden, I can only conclude 

 that they are somewhat capricious. That they love 

 Hmestone, and possibly a saline air, appears to be well- 

 proven by their success in many gardens which lie 

 near the chalk cliffs of the coast. They are true Alpine 

 plants, and are very widely spread over the mountain 

 ranges of the world, appearing in North America as 

 well as in Europe and Northern Asia. 



The following are a few of the best of the 

 |^^^;k)lumbines ; except where otherwise stated seed is 



