I realise that in the short time I’ve been here, this is my third post in as many years on these flowers. Obviously a favourite and one of the first perennials I planted at the Convent. I love these flowers. I’ve had the odd one in different gardens, but now this is “my garden”, they are one of my favourites. I add a few each year (and I’m sure I lose one or two) but also hope as the garden establishes that they self-seed and continue to flourish. The early signs are positive with some new plants emerging.

They are such beautiful flowers – elegant but also with a country cottage casualness about them. Once you understand Aquilegias, you can also appreciate the difference in flower structures. The plants die back to almost nothing during the Winter, then you start to see a cloverish growth which thickens and then long fronds emerge turning into these wonderful “bonnets”. With colours that can be from fragile pastels to strong blues, what’s not to love?

As the garden establishes itself, some plants are flourishing and others moving into the shadows. I hope my Aquilegias become “stayers”.