Aquilegia Advice Needed

Davesnave

tootallulah wrote: »

That is absolutely beautiful, on the whole whatever happens it is enjoyable to grow your own garden.....one day I will make a plan but I am not good at the pulling out of things in the wrong place. Maybe next year!

The plants do most of the work, and they do look nice, but I'm aware of the need for more structure, though not a formal plan. Sometimes I look at pictures of the garden in black & white, which soon shows up weaknesses in structure and how much it's relying on colour alone.

I was thinking about aquilegias earlier and realised I'd forgotten to mention the fact that a new disease has hit them hard in some places. I don't want to worry people unnecessarily, but gardeners growing them should be aware, so that they can take action to limit the spread in their own garden, should it strike.

More details and further links here:

http://www.hardy-plant.org.uk/resources/miscellaneous-articles/Aquilegia-Downy-Mildew

Waterlily24

Davesnave wrote: »

Aquilegias don't make very good long-term container plants. They are safer from vine weevils in a garden bed, where they put on a good display in spring.

Then, they need cutting back a bit to remove all the seeds, or just most of them, if you want them to seed around.

Seedlings will be Heinz57 and you should pull up any you think are drab as soon as they flower. That's the only way to keep a good mix vibrant. Otherwise, they will revert to various shades of mucky pink etc etc which is what you see in long-established, untended groups.

Of course, if you like mucky pinks and dull blues, that's different. Some people think the sharper colours are a tad vulgar.

Edit: They will do fine in a builder's yard.

Thank you for the info, I didn't realise about the colour change either. Should have I suppose looking at ours now. There are still a few lovely dark blue ones in another area but they are just about finished for this year.

Davesnave

Everyone will (rightly) have their own opinions on colours, and which ones they want to keep. I like bi-colours and clematifloras best.

I think we started off with one or two mixtures from somewhere like Plant World and began selecting from what came up, then added one or two species later on.

https://www.plant-world-seeds.com/store/flower_seeds/flower_seeds?page=17