62 STUDIES IN GARDENING 



North American parents. The amateur should aim 

 at obtaining plants with the vigour of growth of 

 Aquilegia vulgaris and the beauty of flower of the 

 long-spurred species. The best way of doing this is 

 to plant some of the better forms of Aquilegia vul- 

 garis among the long-spurred species. The result 

 will be, no doubt, that many inferior seedlings will 

 be obtained, which should be destroyed as soon as 

 they betray their inferiority; but there will also 

 probably be some splendid plants with the virtues 

 both of Aquilegia vulgaris and of the long-spurred 

 species, plants growing 3 ft. or more high and with 

 multitudes of large blossoms, blue and white, pink and 

 white, pink and cream, purple and white, purple and 

 cream, and red and yellow. From these alone should 

 seed be saved, and they should, if possible, be isolated 

 from inferior varieties. This kind of selection may be 

 carried on indefinitely, and, if so carried on, ought to 

 produce results beyond any yet obtained. 



There are now a good many species of columbine 

 which can be cultivated in our gardens, and an infinite 

 number of varieties of these species and of hybrids. 

 The varieties, for instance, of Aquilegia vulgaris are 

 quite numerous. There is a fine white variety with 

 larger flowers than the type, which is, perhaps, the 

 most vigorous and easily grown of all columbines. 

 It is, however, a dangerous plant for those who wish 

 to obtain a fine strain of long-spurred hybrids, since 

 it intermarries profusely with all columbines grown 

 anywhere near it, and the offspring are apt to be an 



