Germination of Aquilegia Seeds

if you are planting them in the shade no hardening needed just plant them

i'm still new to gardening,,,i've purchased all my plants..my son works at lowes in the garden center......hanging my head in shame.......... whats harding off mean?

jane

LOL, jmr, I love to cruise thru Lowe's and see what they have~~often times some very nice plants at good prices, although I always like to support my local growers, too.

'Hardening off' means getting your little plantlings accustomed to the outdoors by setting them out for short times in mild conditions and then increasing their exposure 'til they build up their resistence to natural elements and can survive full time in the garden.

(I set out my various seedlings that are ready to be transplanted for a few mild afternoons in the springtime before I plunk them into the garden. Other people are more careful.)

Jane, here's an article on "hardening off" if you're interested: http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/914/. I did a "seed starting 101" series last year that you might like to check out this winter... it's fun to start some from seed as a way to try varieties that you might not be able to get locally. Plus, I just get so excited seeing those little sproutlings!

actually I just transplant my perennials in the early spring before it get hot and the nights are still cold and they dont need hardening its the annuals and vegies that need to aclamatize to the outdoors and I just put them out in the shade for a few days then move them so they get morning sun then just plant them before its going to rain for few days to get the roots settled and they do great

Boy, it's been awhile since I checked this thread! I've got most of my columbine out on the sales tables now, and some are blooming. I've sorted them by dwarf, short-spur, long spur, pleated, clematis/Barlow & misc. I keep so many varieties that it is difficult to manage them, but I just can't help myself.

most of mine are planted only one tray that is not doing well they seem to have a problem with leaf minor lol but I grew them from seed and dont get that and it has never happened before so I trimmed them right down and now waiting for leaves to grow if the problem persist I will chuck them and start more seeds from new packages

Your leaf miner problem may be a seasonal problem. Cutting back the affected foliage may work just fine, unless there are eggs in the soil, or just a lot of leaf miner problems this year. Of course, that's been months ago, so the problem has probably resolved itself by now. Please let us know.

leaf minor are almost impossible to get rid of to control cut back affected area and garbage do not compost

I found if the plants are big and healthy the miners are, well, minor :) They stay mostly on the leaves near the ground and I stopped bothering to take them off. They were much worse on the spindly ones that the builder planted in full sun and wind, which mostly didn't make it thru a winter. I think I read that it's cosmetic damage anyway? Once your babies got bigger I'll bet they were fine.

yes I just cut all the growth twice and the third one had no damage so I planted them they will bloom in the spring I grew from seed and planted over four hundred columbine plants last winter I am getting so impatient to see them bloom its not funny, I grew so many different kinds what I did was sow about 25 seeds of each kind but some have multiple colors so it should looks good next spring

I get some leaf miner problems every year, but the aphids are more of a problem for me. Like Scicciarella, I have hundreds of plants, and mine are potted and sitting next to each other on tables, so it invites pest problems. I mulch with leaves, as straw is about $15 a bale here, so I suppose that invites the leaf miners, as well. At any rate, I just remove affected leaves and the plants do fine. Of course, I'm in a climate with cool summers, so it may temper the enthusiasm of the leaf miner.

mine completely die off to the ground in the winter and come back in the early spring I use powder for earwigs and other pest which works great but leaf minors are harder to deal with and are almost impossible to get rid of my sister just pulls the plan and take some of the soil out and replants in the same area the next year it has worked for her since she will only replace with a plant that the minors dont like but it seems that if you buy the plants most will have them I grow my own and some still have the problem I dont know how that works

Because we are a cool climate, we just don't have all the pest problems that many areas do. I wouldn't know an earwig if I saw one. Everything dies back over the winter here, as well, and I can't say that I've had leaf miner problems with the same plants from year to year. Of course, most are in pots rather than a garden plot.

what is interesting is that the columbines that I started last winter must think its early spring since some of them are blooming now which is intersting since perennials do not usually bloom the first year but I did start them in january which is very early
the plants are hug so next spring they will be amaxing

bought a few more columbine seeds from ebay this week different colors than the ones I already have and I need more of them for another area now everyone do remember that they are a short lived perennial five to six years so put your seeds in the dirt around the mother plant every year so you will always have new babies every year to keep them growing

In my area, some are short-lived, some are not. The dwarf varieties, such as the A. flabellata seem to die after a few years, but I have McKana's Giant that are at lease 12-15 years old. Our summers are mild, as are our winters, so that may have something to do with it.

Hi again, Aquilegia-lites!

I was just checking my garden and admiring my newest aquilegias thanks mostly to the good gardeners on this thread and their encouragement!

But, the ones that germinated and are blooming so far are the shortish blue and purple-ish ones and while they are lovely and I want more more more of them, I do want some tall ones too. But I can't figure out what they are called...? Maybe McKana's? I would like to have some to interplant with my Clematis vines...

Any thoughts on tall varieties? And are they easy to grow?

(I thought I sowed some of these (taller plant) seeds but so far none have turned up.)

Thanks. t.

It all depends on what color(s) and forms you might want. My favorite is A. canadensis, it is very winter hardy and one plant I have next to my deck tops out at about 40 inches and blooms for 4-6 weeks each year

My tall ones are the pink bonnets and the white bonnets. I did buy both the blue pinky winky and the red pinky winky last year. I scattered the seeds from the winkies and the bonnets last year. I see I have a lot more plants coming this year than I had last year. It should be interesting to see what I end up with....

Tabasco - do you have any pictures of your aquilegias?

Ahh, candensis sounds perfect. I wonder if I can get mine to top out at 40 inches!?!

I have a package of seeds from Touchwood Gardens for the pink bonnets and I think I'll get those started. Although it seems late to me, after reading the thread I think maybe I should give it a try.

I confess I did stop at Costco today and they had a huge shipment of generic Aquilegias in so I succumbed and bought 3 in a tray. (My personal gardening challenge this year was not to buy ANY plants, but, oh, well...)

Similar to A. canadensis is our local Alaska columbine, A. formosa. The colors are the same, but A. formosa has blooms that are more star-like.

As you can see, the A. canadensis is a bit different, but similar. I've heard they have crossed with one another along their habitat areas.

WZ! Good to see ya.

Thanks for sharing those photos... I didn't know about A. formosa, and I think I have a clump of it that's labeled A. canadensis.

Thanks to you & other DGers who have shared/swapped seeds with me over the years, I have a lot of different columbines scattered among my irises, and I think they've done their own share of crossing! I never know quite what's going to pop up...

You introduced me to the little dwarf A. flabellata varieties, and they're still some of my favorite columbines -- so sweet! I think you're right that they may be short-lived perennials. I've still got some out there, but I'm pretty sure they are new clumps that self-sowed from my original seedlings.

Weezy

They are beauties! I just love both canadensis and the formosa.

both are very pretty

It's funny that I am less impressed with the A. formosa because it is practically a weed around here. It pops up all over the yard and beds, and though it usually is in an awkward spot, by the time I get around to weeding, it's already blooming and I relent.

The A. flabellata are a favorite of mine, as well. They bloom considerably earlier than the other columbine. I sell quite a few when they are blooming... white, pink and blue. They put out lots of good seed, so I'm sure you've had lots of volunteers.

Since I have a little nursery business, I'm so busy all spring that I no longer have time to dig around in my flower beds until July or August. One of the nicer results is that I don't disturb those young volunteers that pop up. Of course, the columbine, like violas, cross pollinate and nice surprises result. Sometimes Mother Nature knows best.

My oldest columbine are McKana's Giant. When in flower, they are easily 5 feet tall, and the long spurred blooms are beautiful. I have three of them in my south bed and they are all over 15 years old.

Weezy

that is gorgeous! And HUGE!

Columbine really love our climate and live to be senior citizens of the plant world.

Weez~~thanks for sharing your pics! So lovely. Didn't know about the two similar aquilegias, either.

I'm becoming a really big fan of columbines and was able to start some collected seeds this summer (and that really surprised me!). I have visions of vast clumps of columbines waving in the spring breezes next year!

(My digitalis seeds germinated too, which also put me in shock! I don't know why I'm always surprised, but I am. )

t.