AQUILEGIA. Columbine. Widespread, mostly in north-temperate regions. These are graceful, long-lived perennials for moist spots in the garden. They make compact clumps of seasonal shoots from a branched rootstock. Their usually long-stalked, fern-like leaves, elegant by themselves, form a beautiful foil for branched clusters of large, usually nodding blossoms in spring. Each flower has five colored, usually spreading sepals and five inner petals whose base is drawn out into a nectar-bearing spur. They are fine plants for butterflies and other insects, and the red-flowered ones will draw hummingbirds from far and wide. I have had great fun selecting and hybridizing among the new forms which continually pop up at the nursery; may gardeners find them similarly enchanting. Winter deciduous. Sun or part shade, reasonably well drained soil, constant moisture during active growth. Those listed are hardy to below 0^o, except as noted.

sibirica. One of best of the smaller columbines. It has slender stems, broad bright green leaves and many widely spreading, short-spurred blossoms in purple to maroon shades, carried on 1’ stems. From our original stock I have also developed a hybrid strain dubbed ‘Pink Petticoats’. Plants of this strain are taller (2’+) though similarly graceful, and extremely floriferous. Their usual shades are flesh-pink to mauve.