Columbine Collection

The flower bed beneath my east window is the prettiest it's ever been this year with many plants in bloom all at once. Even though the peonies are past their prime and the delphiniums having retired of their own volition after 35 years of service, the whole bed is a live with colour as displayed by the columbines. This old-fashioned favourite provides a backdrop of foliage even after the blooming season is over. Trim the flowering stems back, leaving graceful mounds of leaves, and save the seeds! I've never managed to sprout them successfully indoors, but several have re-sown themselves in the garden. There's no such thing as too many columbines.

Columbine Chorus

Day 223: A chorus of columbines is blooming in my garden now, and this old-fashioned flower always makes me think of my grandmother for some reason. I don't recall that she had them in her yard, but I do remember being scolded when I picked them somewhere, and bit the tips off the spurs to suck the sweet nectar out. I do recall doing the same thing with my mother's nasturtiums, and I remember where they grew in the brick-framed boxes at the front of our porch, but the columbines? The only connection I make regarding them is with my grandmother. In any event, I enjoy them now for their colour, and although I love the frilly skirts of the hybrids, my favourites will always be the singles I recall from childhood. Oddly, I do not have our native red and yellow type in my collection.

Columbine Collection

Day 228: Columbines have been one of the most reliable and rewarding additions to my flower beds over the years, but somehow I have managed to overlook our native species. It is bright red with a yellow skirt, a "single" type similar in form to the one at the lower right, although a purer red. The "doubles" have their own unique appeal, and even within the basic flower form may have various petal shapes and degree of ruffle. Once they are done blooming, the flowering stems may be cut back, leaving attractive mounds of foliage. In my experience, they do not re-seed easily, but if the seed pods are allowed to mature and dehisc, you may find the occasional plant popping up unexpectedly ten feet away from its parent the following year.