Aquilegia vulgaris var. stellata Nora Barlow - Columbine seeds

Aquilegia 'Nora Barlow' is a wonderful old favourite. From spring to early summer, it produces charming, fully double blooms made up of masses of fine, pointed raspberry-pink petals with an unusual green tinge, that gently age to white. It's really easy to sow and grows in any soil, requiring no special care, naturalising easily in rockeries and borders.

Aquilegia, commonly known as Columbine or Granny’s Bonnet, belongs to the Ranunculaceae family. 'Nora Barlow' is a cultivar selected from Aquilegia vulgaris (or clematiflora), a species that occurs naturally in open woodlands and forest clearings, meadows, rocky slopes and the roadside banks of North America, Europe and temperate Asia. This variety was spotted in a Cambridge garden by a young girl whose grandfather was none other than... Charles Darwin! It bears the name of its discoverer. It forms upright, bushy clumps that grow to a height of 60 cm (23.4 in) and a width of about 30 cm (11.7 in) when in full bloom. Charming, fully double flowers emerge at the tip of long, branched stems from May to June. The nodding, spurless flower ages from raspberry pink to pale pink tinted with green, ending up nearly pure white. The deciduous bluish-green to dark 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. Although they self-seed easily, they are not always true to type when different varieties are grown in close proximity.

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