Growing Aquilegias

I sprinkled some seeds onto seed and cutting compost in a used ice cream container, left it out in a sheltered spot all winter. earlier this week I potted up 10 baby plants. I doubt they will get big enough to flower this year, but when they have put on some growth, I will plant them out and wait for the surprise next spring.

 

sowing early spring is good. I find when mine fail it's usually that I've let the top of the compost dry out. With a January sowing it may take 3 months to germinate so that a moist surface isn't always easy to keep going.
Or I put it down to dud seeds sometimes!
My usual proviso to 'They'll grow anywhere' is 'as long as they aren't waterlogged in winter, particularly if water comes over the resting crowns' ... which probably covers your clay soil?

 

Sowed mine this morning.

 

any particular type or colour ?

 

T&M hybrids ''Crown jewels" and Mckanna giants, all bought using those £5 vouchers that T&M give out with plug plants, sometimes with each £5's worth of plants when reduced, sometimes sent twice for each £5's worth when they re-send because they've mucked things up, and you've also got 12% cashback on the order.

 

Naturally, these plants are self -seeders. they drop their seeds on the soil and love to spend the winter outside. which is a reason I rarely mulch out. come spring I will find babies coming up.

 

Can anyone suggest a supplier of aquilegias, now that Carrie Thomas' National Collection has been wiped out by disease? I'm getting into them, and she has some gorgeous and very diverse varieties on her website, which she's kindly maintained for info purposes. I've got some from other gardeners, including a friend who'd bought a very mixed pack of seed from Carrie, shortly before she stopped trading. The closest I can find is Plant World that has a broad range of single variety packs for sale, although it works out much more expensive to boost my collection than Carrie's Touchstone Nursery prices.

 

I love Aquilegia and have a large number that self seed merrily. I buy species seeds from various suppliers, Chiltern Seeds and Plant World among them. Grow them, plant them out and then let them hybridise and self seed. Any I don't like get removed, I could be stricter in this, the result is a large number of varied Aquilegia that give me a good display every May/June.

 

Oooh, thanks for pointing me in the direction of Chiltern Seeds. They have some lovely very mixed packs of aquilegia, which look like just the right thing for increasing my diversity. I'm doing something similar to you Nigel, removing any I really don't like the colour of and letting the best produce seed....gorgeous clouds of white, mauve, blue and purple.

 

Oh wow! @shiney , what a fabulous collection!

(Not posted in such a long time, I must apologise for that.)

 

@shiney what a shame. I have a few varieties in my garden and all seem ok for now. I know there have been problems with them from reading a few bits and bobs about t'internet so I'm hoping mine keep going. They're such a pretty little flower.

 

I was going to post pictures of mine, but they are almost over now and unfortunately this year a lot of flower buds have shrivelled I think because of the cold dry winds we have had this spring.