This is the first columbine to bloom here in my garden. It even stood up or should I say stook back up after a couple of evenings with temperatures down in the low 20's. The bleeding hearts and some of the early tulips didn't fare as well. Aquilegia scopulorum, A. laramiensis and A. viridiflorus 'Chocolate Soldier' should be blooming in the next week or so. The plant pictured here is about 12" tall.
I forgot to add that the pictured plant is A. dinarica.
Very pretty. I had viridiflora a while ago but lost it - it is an outstanding plant with a lovely scent.
Yes, very nice and healthy plant, Ally. My first Aquilegia will be Semiaquilegia ecalcarata in a pot, and in a few days. I have viridiflora and some other species started from seed this year.
Ally, I love that second photo. It looks impossibly beautiful, more like the flower of my dreams than anything real.
Leftwood, please post a picture of the Semiaquilegia when it blooms. I really like them.
May I ask why you are growing Semiaquilegia ecalarata in
pot rather than ground?
Are they not Zone 4?
Taramark, I don't know about Leftwood, but I grow my Semiaquilegias in pots because I'm afraid of losing them among the bigger and more aggressive plants in my garden. They're too precious to take that chance.
Zuzu, thanks for the information.
This is my first year at germinating Semiaquilegia
so I will remember your point.
.
Thanks everyone. I didn't realize that A. viridiflora had a fragrance Galanthophile. I'll have to go and check mine this evening.
Zuzu I'm glad your able to see the second picture. I'm not able to see it very well here on my computer at work. I was rather pleased with this picture myself.
Leftwood I agree with Zuzu, please post pics of your Semiaquilegia. This is another of the many plants that I've not grown yet.
the Semiaquilegia e. I have now are all in one pot now - seedlings from last year, and I never got around to planting them out or repotting them. They seem to be magnets to anyone who sees them, and I usually end up giving them away before I can try them in the ground anyway. Being in a pot, they never get to the size they would in the ground, which makes them even more cute. The foliage is more finely cut than Aquilegia.
This species germinates easier for me that Aquilegia species.
I will certainly take photos, but I am still in the film era, so it won't be as timely.
I should be able to post a semiaquilegia...in about 2 months! Mine are just starting to sprout! I do have A. flabellata just barely showing buds but its probbaly still about a month away from blooms.
Semiaquilegia adoxiodes in 2" pot.
I think I have som adoxoides somewhere in my pot managerie. I'm going to have to go hunting. Foliage doesn't have much of a cute factor like ecalcarata though. Haven't seen a bloom on it yet.
Taramark is that a peat pot? I'd like to see that plant in bloom as well. What color of blooms does your plant get? There is still so much plant material that I haven't had a chance to grow yet.
I look forward to seeing everyone elses pictures of semiaquilegia and the like.
Galanthophile I did check the A. viridiflora.... what a pleasant surprise. It has a very nice scent that even had a hint of what seemed to me a lemon or citris like scent.
I have a rather silly confession to make:
It's not a Semiaquilegia bud that I saw after all; it's a bitsy 2cd year seedling Clematis alpina bud. Very darkly colored. The pots were right next to each other, I never looked very close, and I never knew Clematis alpina bloomed so early!
Rick
Yes, Ally, that is a peat pot. I figured the more I can water
the plant the more H2O2 I can give it.
I thought this species was Zone 4, but now I read that
it is considered hardy only to Zone 6!
Evidently I shall have to keep it in a pot and bring it
in for the winter, or plant some rocks around it.
Now I am in a quandry!
Help! Any advice, friends?
Overwintering like that is too much work for me. My five adoxoides seedlings from last season are still in pots, and weathered a zone 5 winter here in zone4a. I am planting them out and they can fend for themselves. For perennials that die back, zone ratings are too fickle to take them as gospel, and even jumping two zones is not unheard of.
Rick
Here are a couple more Aquilegia that are blooming this week.
This is A. scopulorum... here is a side view to show the long spurs(?) on the blossom.
The following are of the blossoms of Aquilegia laramiensis. This first one I grew from seed and is in a spot that doesn't lend itself to taking a very good photo sorry. They are very small blossoms... I'd say they're no more than in inch long.
This is a plant that I purchased late last year that was labeled A. laramiensis.
What a cutie! Is that last one what it is labeled?
I don't know Rick. The bloom looks identical to the pure white form other than the coloring. I haven't had time to do any checking but I'm sure these tend to be variable.
I like all of those! I have this one just about to open - it's called Little Lanterns and I took a chance as I wasn't sure what it would be like. I think I'll love it!
You did answer my question, Ally. I am not familiar enough with larameinsis to know what the general form of the flower is (or if/how it differs from other spp.) And now I do! Thanks!
Rick
And red lanterns at that Galanthophile. Truth be told red is my favorite color. I've looked for more rock garden plants with red blooms but haven't found many. I believe that is a small hybrid of A. canadensis isn't it? Looks like there's another plant to add to my list....
Hey - another red aficionado.. :-)
