{"id":2737,"date":"2019-05-21T06:32:28","date_gmt":"2019-05-21T14:32:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/?p=2737"},"modified":"2019-05-21T06:32:28","modified_gmt":"2019-05-21T14:32:28","slug":"flocks-of-doves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/flocks-of-doves\/","title":{"rendered":"Flocks of Doves"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/strong><\/p>\n

\""Granny's<\/a>
“Granny’s Bonnet”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I have columbine or Aquilegia vulgaris growing in my garden\u2014and occasionally in the grass, rock wall crevices, cracks between pavers, and just about anywhere else that that is home to more than an atom of soil.\u00a0 I regard this as a blessing, because most of them are self sown specimens that flourish with absolutely no help and very little attention from me.<\/p>\n

The only thing that makes the columbine situation less than optimal is that about ninety percent of my columbines are blue or more properly, dark, blue-purple.\u00a0 This is not a bad color, but I do occasionally wish for more variety.<\/p>\n

The lack of \u00a0other colors is not for want of trying.\u00a0 Over the years I have bought numerous columbines in all the available shades , from pure white to yellow, a range of blues and purples, as well as red.\u00a0 A few whites have continued to do battle with the blue columbine population, and in a raised bed, somewhat removed from the blues, some pink, double \u201cgranny\u2019s bonnet\u201d type plants flourish.\u00a0 Another pink, single-flowered plant is currently holding forth on my front strip.\u00a0 I am still waiting to see whether the yellow Aquilegia chrysantha or golden columbine that I bought a few years ago at a plant sale will show up this spring.\u00a0 But mostly, my columbines are as blue as a bluefish and going strong.<\/p>\n

This phenomenon is most likely about genetics.\u00a0 Clearly the genes for blue coloring are the strongest among the columbines growing in my garden.\u00a0 I don\u2019t believe soil chemistry, which can change the color of hydrangeas, has any influence on the aquilegia genus. \u00a0It is ironic that my rapacious Spanish bluebells or Hyacinthoides hispanica, which I would love to see blooming in blue, come up mostly pink, in the same spaces where pink columbines are unable to achieve hegemony.<\/p>\n

As the Rolling Stones sang long ago, \u201cYou can\u2019t always get what you want, but if you try sometime, you find you get what you need.\u201d\u00a0 Clearly I must need blue columbines.<\/p>\n

The genus is endemic to the northern hemisphere, with species originating here and in Europe.\u00a0 The flowers bear little resemblance to their many kin in the buttercup or Ranunculaceae family, but the relationship was established by botanists long ago.\u00a0 Slender flower stalks occasionally reach up to three feet tall, but are often shorter. Technically, each bloom has five petals, but there is a lot of variation within the columbine clan. \u00a0Some varieties feature petals that have modified themselves over time into showy long spurs to attract hungry, nectar-seeking hawk moths. Others, like the double-flowered \u2018Dorothy Rose,\u2019 look like frilly boudoir lampshades, with heads chock full of densely packed petals. These extravagant varieties, more than other columbine types, have helped earn the nickname, \u201cgranny\u2019s bonnets.\u201d Still other types, like the pink and white favorite \u2018Nora Barlow,\u2019 feature a crowded array of fringed petals, reminiscent of small dahlias or mums.<\/p>\n

The name \u201ccolumbine\u201d comes from the Latin word for \u201cdove\u201d and may have been bestowed on the plants when someone decided that the pendulous flowers resembled groups of those birds.\u00a0 Perhaps some near-sighted flower lover with a poetic imagination and a stand of white flowered columbine was responsible. The Latin species name, \u201cAquilegia\u201d, means \u201ceagle-like.\u201d This came from the great eighteenth century botanist, Linnaeus, who saw a resemblance between the petal configuration, which features sharply pointed petal ends, and eagles\u2019 claws. \u00a0Doves or eagles? \u00a0\u00a0It depends entirely on your sensibilities and poetic disposition.\u00a0 Either way, the flowers are winsome and beautiful, dancing in the spring breezes.<\/p>\n

When not in bloom\u2014or in my case \u201cin blue\u201d\u2014the plants are still good looking.\u00a0 After the flowers disappear, the tall seed heads add interest until they turn brown and spill copious amounts of seed on the surrounding earth.\u00a0 The leaves are almost as beautiful as the flowers–dark green or blue-green, tri-lobed and fan-shaped, they persist through the growing season. They are occasionally troubled by leaf miners, whose depredations create swirling white lines on the leaf surfaces. \u00a0It is probably sacrilege to say so, but I find the leaf miners\u2019 trails almost attractive. \u00a0Leaf miners may cause some leaf drop, but no permanent damage to healthy plants.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 For those of us troubled by both shade and varmints, columbines are a blessing.\u00a0 They thrive in consistently moist, semi-shaded places and seem to be relatively resistant to deer interference.\u00a0 They do attract hummingbirds and other pollinators and look equally alluring in indoor arrangements.<\/p>\n

At this time of the year, columbines in all colors are available everywhere, from big box stores to specialty retailers, both \u201cbricks and mortar\u201d and online.\u00a0 For an interesting selection of varieties to grow from seed, try Select Seeds, 180 Stickney Hill Road, Union, CT 06076;<\/p>\n

1-800-684-0395; www.selectseeds.com<\/a>.\u00a0 Free print catalog.<\/p>\n

\"Columbine--blue\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have columbine or Aquilegia vulgaris growing in my garden\u2014and occasionally in the grass, rock wall crevices, cracks between pavers, and just about anywhere else that that is home to more than an atom of soil.\u00a0 I regard this as a blessing, because most of them are self sown specimens that flourish with absolutely no … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,2,3,5],"tags":[2107,822,150,410,826,706,126,673],"class_list":["post-2737","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fall","category-general-interest","category-spring","category-summer","category-winter","tag-aquilegia-vulgaris","tag-biennial-plants","tag-blue-flowers","tag-columbine","tag-grannys-bonnet","tag-purple-flowers","tag-shade-plants","tag-spring-flowers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2737","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2737"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2737\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2740,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2737\/revisions\/2740"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}