Talk to me about Aquilegias

Hi everyone,
I'd be very interested to hear your experiences with Aquilegias. Until very recently I had never even heard of them, but since I did hear about them I think I've fallen a little bit in love They're beautiful, and I'd love to add some to the garden this year.
Which variety is your favourite?
When do they tend to be available to buy, and do most garden centres sell them or are they better off being bought online?
Is there anything else I should know about them? I've heard they can spread a lot if they like their conditions, which is fine with me. I've planted English bluebells and forget me nots and anemones last year so I'm not adverse to prolific self seeders
Thank you in advance if anyone would share their views x

 

There are some beautiful varieties
But..........they are weedy, they seem to revert to be very plain looking and the foliage is not worth a place in my garden. I have removed them all here and in many gardens I have thinned them out.
I confess they are the marmite of the plant world though......they are indeed enjoyed by many.
Sienna, since you are aware of their potential to self seed and chosen to plant similarly inclined forget me nots and bluebells, I guess you are happy with their habit.
I am sure others will suggest varieties

 

They come up on my veg plot every year and I round them up and give em to Shiney wether he wants them or not

The seeds are very toxic but he'm ok so far

 

Yep! For reasons I can't explain I seem to be drawn to the self seeders of the gardening world.
We have a very woodlandy style garden out the back and cottage garden style at the front.
One of my aims this year is to get some planting done underneath some of the taller shrubs and trees. Our soil is clay which I *think* goes some way in slowing down the spread of some of the more invasive plants?

 

This is the one I have in my garden, but, no idea of the variety



Only a few days ago, I bought a variety called "Barlow Black" from one of the discount stores. It won't be black, more of a very dark purple, but it should flower this year

 

have several of them myself. as they are self seeders I am very careful NOT to mulch around the "mother" and have got quiet good at finding the babies in the spring. In mid summer the pods of the adult plant do hold the seeds, and you know they are ready to pop cause they make a rattle noise if you gently shake them. Now, if you want to be really structure, you could gather all the dry pods and take them to a soil tray etc and spread them yourself. Keep in mind as a self seeder they will not want much depth of soil at all, like maybe an eighth of soil. and the seeds do want a winter hardy experience before they will pop next spring. so you could mock it by putting the seeds in the fridge. I just let mother nature take its course.

 

@Sienna's Blossom I LUV LuV Luv um and grow lots of varieties to name a few such as William Guinness, Yellow Queen, Ruby Port, Strawberry Ice Cream, Tequila Sunrise, Nora Barlow, Blue Barlow, Black Barlow, Lime sorbet and lots of others that have cross-pollinated as they are very promiscuous Last autumn i sowed approx 150 seeds of aquilegia Mc kana giant long-spurred- so will look forward to those flowering in time to come. I do notice that the buzzy's tend to be more attracted to the dark purple and blue shades the ones that are more natural and fall into the granny bonnets type varieties.So I grow lots and lots of them for the pollinators and sow lots of the true strains to balance out the numbers of the wild ones but I LUV them all and as my garden is more, wild than cultivated they are allowed to self-seed at will. It's lovely seeing their pretty foliage appearing and exciting to see the many crosses that appear you never know what your going to get and i find that one of the nicest reasons for having them in my garden- apart from the fact they are totally unaffected by slugs or snails The only thing to be mindful of is a condition called downy mildew please see link for info...... many of my original seeds and plants came from Carrie's before she was blighted with this bless her and fingers crossed ive not experienced it in my garden so far
Hardy Plant Society: Aquilegia Downy Mildew
They will be just perfect for growing thru the forget me nots, bluebells, and anemones, in fact, i speak from actual experience cos you are describing my garden set up

 

@shiney Those were beautiful, what a shame.
What does it mean for me if I was to try and grow them? That they just might not survive if there's the mildew problem in my area? Or would it mean I shouldn't even try? Are there risks to other plants in the garden or is it specific to the Aquilegias? I'll do a bit of research now.

 

@shiney we just cross posted
Those pics of your Aquilegias are just and its so sad that yours were affected I remember you posting this info at the time it was spreading thu your garden- heartbreaking news

 

@BeeHappy
Thank you for the link, very interesting. I'll see if I can find anything about it affecting Bristol gardens.

 

@Sienna's Blossom and good luck- Carrie is a lovely lady and a font of all knowledge - a true plantswoman as well as an officianardo of Aquligias, so she would be the best contact for advice IMHO

 

Right I've emailed Carrie for her advice. Fingers crossed.
@ARMANDII they are absolutely gorgeous!