Beautify Your Garden with Granny's Bonnets
Known as Granny's Bonnets or Columbine, that well-known perennial Aquilegia Vulgaris is well-deserving of a place in anyone's garden. This plant was around well before anyone even invented a bonnet for their granny! It has been found featured in medieval paintings and heraldic emblems and in the 15th century was believed to be a top cure for ulcers and various nervous disorders. However, those ancient healers may well have been run out of town, since it is now known that every part of the aquilegia is poisonous.
Aquilegia vulgaris, the common plant, is found growing naturally in woodland areas, so it is ideal for naturalizing under trees or amongst bushes where it will receive dappled shade. Here it will self-seed quite happily and abundantly if the seed is not smothered with too much mulch after it has dropped. It is great for filling up those unsightly gaps that can develop in the garden and the ferny foliage is most attractive even without the happy little bonnets nodding in the breeze. The flowers can be white through to deep purple and take a variety of forms; single, double, starry or even rosiform.
The hybrids are even more beautiful with much larger flowers than the common variety. Colors available in hybrids are yellow (A.chrysantha), blue and white (A. flabellata), and even red (A.canadensis). These even like full sun, though in really hot climates they should be protected from the scorching rays of the late afternoon sun.
The aquilegia will tolerate most garden soils and few pests attack them, making them a worthy and hardy addition to any garden. One thing they cannot stand is to have waterlogged roots and if they must live in damp, deep shade with little air-flow, they are likely to end up with fungal disease.
The abundant seed may be harvested when the pods begin to turn pale yellow, a good indication of imminent opening. They can also be divided at the roots by cutting in half or more with a sharp knife. Simply dig the clump out and wash the soil off the roots first. These beautiful larger granny's bonnets look stunning in a massed display of one color or in a riot of mixed colors. McKenna hybrids include pastel pinks, whites and blues. Purchased seed should be sown in the autumn, but in cooler climates can also be sown in the spring. Transplant the seedlings when about 4 inches high and water regularly. When the buds start to form, a liquid fertilizer can be applied. Aquilegia will last for many years in cooler climates, but in warm climates are best replanted every second year.