Talks About Hardy Perennials 
III. THE GOLDEN-FLOWERED COLUMBINE 
By W. C. EGAN 
A UTHORITIES disagree as to the derivation 
of the generic name of the plant Aquilegia 
chrysantha. In Nicholson’s Dictionary of 
Gardening, the English authority, it states that it is 
derived from aquila, eagle, in reference to the form 
of its petals, while our American authority, Cyclo¬ 
pedia of American Horticulture, gives it as from 
aquilegus, water-drawer. It is singular, however, 
that a plant so universally grown should have but 
few common names, columbine, the best known 
of them all, red bells, 
and dove plants, com¬ 
prising the list. Red 
bells is suggested bythe 
most common Ameri¬ 
can form Aquilegia 
Canadensis, and the 
appellation dove plant 
is applied on account 
of the resemblance of 
its nectaries to the 
heads of pigeons in a 
ring around a dish, a 
favorite device of an¬ 
cient artists. Lady Wil¬ 
kinson compares the 
flowers to “the figure 
of a hovering dove, 
with expanded wings, 
which we obtain by 
pulling off a single 
petal with its attached 
sepals.” 
In the language of 
flowers it represents 
desertion, inconstancy. 
It is one of the oldest favorites of the English gar¬ 
dens and often mentioned in verse in the fourteenth 
and fifteenth centuries. 
“ Gay in her gown true and fine, 
Dances the merry Columbine.” 
I he genus is well distributed in the northern tem¬ 
perate zone and about all seem reliably hardy, but 
often short lived. In a garden sense, they may be 
divided into three groups, the long-spurred or Amer¬ 
ican, short-spurred or European, and the non-spurred 
or clematis shaped, the result of cultivation, wherein 
one of its chief charms, its long spurs, are eliminated. 
Some of the recent catalogues are advertising this 
latter form as one of Burbank’s new creations, 
which is an error, as the form was introduced some 
years ago and fell flat upon public patronage, on 
account of its unattractiveness. 
There are many species and innumerable forms 
and hybrids. Saving one’s own seeds, where any 
great variety is grown, is very unsatisfactory, if 
species true to name is desired, as they hybridize so 
readily. Those most apt to come true are A. vulgaris, 
the European species; A. Canadensis, our Eastern 
native; A. chrysantha, a Southwestern species, and 
A. Sibirica, from East¬ 
ern Siberia. 
All are readily grown 
from seed either in a 
hotbed or in the open, 
but are slow to germi¬ 
nate and it is best to 
keep a light covering 
of moss or cotton over 
the seed bed so as to 
retain the moisture, 
until the plants are up. 
They make fairly 
strong plants the first 
season, if sown in the 
spring and bloom early 
the following spring. 
Some species, espe¬ 
cially A. Canadensis, 
if in a favorable posi¬ 
tion, will last for years 
but as a rule it is best 
to treat them as trien¬ 
nials, sowing often in 
ordertokeepup a stock. 
Should one possess an 
unusually fine plant and desire an increase, it may 
be divided at the roots just after flowering or early 
in the fall. Partial shade suits them well, although 
they will grow in full sun and I have some plants of 
A. Canadensis growing in almost dense shade that 
seem happy. They like good, well-drained soil. 
Those who know our native form only in its stony 
habitat would be surprised to see the same plant in 
rich soil. One of the loveliest of all the species is 
the fickle Rocky Mountain columbine, A. ccerulea, 
the daintiest of blues, but alas! its weak constitution 
often causes it to die back, even before blooming and 
as for a second season’s bloom it cannot be depended 
upon with me. Luckily, however, there is a substitute 
for it in A. Helena said to be a hybrid between 
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