Topic: Aquilegia?discolor

[Palustris]

THis may or may not be A. discolor, but it is very pretty and only 4 inches tall, but the flowers are a good size.

[ACE]

Keep the seed and trial it for 3 years and you will be able to give it a name. What a beauty!

I am in my second year with a variagated digitalis 70% of the seedlings look as if they are variagated, so my fingers are crossed.

The variagation on the first sport were very unusual and unlike any of the others which were  from a packet of flashing spires seed.

[montanum]

Yes do keep the seed as I find it to be a short lived plant.

[Palustris]

Seeding itself aroud the trough garden now, as is a white one of similar girth, not fully open yet.

[mat]

Yes do keep the seed as I find it to be a short lived plant.

montanum, I don't know whether I have misunderstood your comment, but just in case... aquilegia's are biennials - i.e. flowers which seed this year (2006) will die.  The seeds grow next year (2007) and these will flower and die the following year (2008.)  Unless you allow self seeding every year, you will soon be without plants.

Oh and aquilegia's are very promiscuous... they will cross pollinate with any other local aquilegias... so after a few years, all the plants could become non-descript unless kept apart !!!

mat

[Palustris]

Sorry Mat, but most Aquilegias are far from being biennials. I have a fair number in the garden which have been here for at least 8 years, including a huge yellow flowered one which refuses point blank to set viable seed.
Yes we know they are promiscuous, but this dwarf blue one seems to flower before any of the bigger ones are out, and does come true from seed, or at least the ones in the gravel from previous years seeds are. The mother plant by the way was planted 4 years ago now, sheesh, don't time fly.

[Robert_Brenchley]

A lot of short-lived perennials get treated as biennials, but they do last quite a bit longer than that if you keep them. If you don't want them all to end up muddy colour after a few generations, you either need to take care over pollination of the seed you keep, or buy seed occasionally.

[Deeds]

I've never known Aquilegias to be biennial either. The species don't go muddy, and are usually true from seed.  There again I only tend to grow the species ones.

It looks very much like Aquilegia flabellata nana to me Eric.Very lovely whatever it is.

[Palustris]

Hence the ?. I thought that was what it was, but saw a plant very similar on a trade stall at the weekend grown by a very very knowledgeable chap (ex Botanic gardens so no slouch) and that was labelled A. discolor.
This is the pure white equally dwarf one I have with no name at all.

[mat]

Oh well, all mine act as biennials - a plant never lasts after flowering...  I had assumed they were biennials due to this (as per hollyhocks)  I leave mine to self seed and it then gives me continuous plants...  I must admit I had never looked it up so I stand corrected  ::)  :-[

mat

[Rosa_Mundi]

Think I may have a record-breaker for longevity - a lilac/yellow bicolour which is over 18 years old. I brought it with me when I moved here. Never has produced seeds matching the parent, though - more's the pity.