Aquilegia from Seed

Orange_King

Has anyone been successful growing Granny's Bonnet from seed?

The plant I have has given me plenty of shiny black seeds which I took from the pods and wondered if I can get more plants from these without too much effort? Any tips on when to sew and how to get best results would be appreciated!

Davesnave

Sow now, thinly. They won't come true, and you'll probably have to wait till 2013 to see exactly what you've got, but the results can be interesting.

With aquilegias it's imperative to ruthlessly pull up any muddy coloured specimens and remove single colours/singles if you prefer bi-colours/double/triples. As they self-seed prolifically, it's usually not too much of a wrench.

I kept my front garden interesting in terms of aquilegias for about 15 years, while nearby folk, who obviously didn't bother to select, had mainly dull pinks and blues.

meg72

I find these self seed and as I have a fair few clumps now I just let them get on with it.I would think though if you want them in a particular place I would sprinkle the seeds where you want them to grow.

Orange_King

Thank you - so you don't necessarily get the same colours that were on the parent plant then? The one I have had a rather unusal combination of colours including purple and burgundy.

I like the sound of this self seeding prolifically business without too much associated work!

Mojisola

I just scatter the seeds around the garden and let them grow naturally. As Davesnave says, thin out the ordinary colours and keep the ones you like.

foxgloves

They really do give you lots of free plants. Just sprinkle the seed heads where you'd like some more & when you see some little seedlings appearing, just make sure they are watered. They won't flower until 2013, but the nice thing about this is that you can sometimes get different colours & even shapes. I find that most of mine come out as quite a good pink with white middles but have had other varients of this, including some pretty ones with lime green edges. Just have a sprinkle & see what you get!

oldtractor

mine self seeds all over the garden.

lostinrates

Orange_King wrote: »

Thank you - so you don't necessarily get the same colours that were on the parent plant then? The one I have had a rather unusal combination of colours including purple and burgundy.

I like the sound of this self seeding prolifically business without too much associated work!

I love these and sow trhem where ever I've been. FWIW I've always found the burgundies and the very dark purples (and the dullish pinks but I like them!) are kind of ''donminant'' and seem to take over, so if those are the colours you like you might well be lucky!

Orange_King

Yes, I really liked the colours on this one and hope the seeds provide similar plants when they eventually mature.

I take it it is also possible to divide a mature plant every now and then but when is the ideal time of year to do this if it has got a bit too extensive for its current location?

a1cat

I always move my aquilegias at Easter and they have always done well/ survived - so I guess that would be a good time to split them, too.

Either that or September/ October IMV

Davesnave

Orange_King wrote: »

I take it it is also possible to divide a mature plant every now and then but when is the ideal time of year to do this if it has got a bit too extensive for its current location?

You can take it from me that dividing aquilegias is only theoretically possible."They don't like it up 'em!"