Aquilegia Red Hobbit Seeds - Columbine

Aquilegia 'Red Hobbit' is a rare variety that forms sturdy little plants with a bushy, compact habit and a long blooming season. From April to June, it displays pretty bicoloured red and white flowers. This hardy and easy to grow perennial enjoys part shade and cool, well-drained soil. Although it is rather short-lived, it self-seeds abundantly.

Aquilegia 'Red Hobbit' is a Danish bred variety selected from the Blue Columbine, the Colorado state flower (Aquilegia caerulea). This North American species belongs to the Buttercup or Ranunculaceae family and can be found growing wild throughout the Rocky Mountains. 'Red Hobbit' forms a compact, upright clump that grows to about 40 cm in height. In May-June large, spurred flowers emerge over the foliage. They measure 6 to 10 cm in diameter, with bright crimson red outer petals and a white corolla. The bluish-green leaves have a lacy, delicate clover-like appearance. Aquilegias are short-lived perennials; flowering generally reaches its peak after 2 or 3 years of cultivation. However, 'Red Hobbit' is a stable hybrid that self-seeds true to type if isolated from other columbines.

Columbines or Granny's Bonnets have been popular ornamental garden plants since the Middle Ages. They will fit in just about anywhere, bringing a discreet lightness and fantasy to mixed borders and perennial beds; they are ideal for underplanting shrubs and trees, growing up slopes or to decorate shady rock gardens. They are excellent cut flowers. In old-fashioned cottage style gardens, columbines combine well with perennials such as foxgloves, bellflowers, wood cranesbill, bleeding hearts or lady’s mantle.