• Home
  • ABOUT/FAQs
  • PLANT PORTRAITS
  • PLANT PORTRAITS INDEX – Search By Botanical Name
  • THE PLANT ARCHIVES & MASTER LIST ~ 1991-2020
  • THE TOMATO ARCHIVES ~ 1991 to 2020
  • This & That
  • Welcome!

Hill Farm Nursery

Cariboo-Grown & Cariboo-Hardy Perennials. Since 1991.

Aquilegia alpina – ALPINE COLUMBINE

November 1, 2014 by leavesandpages

 

Aquilegia alpine - Alpine Columbine - Chilliwack, B.C. - June 2013. Image: HFN

Aquilegia alpina – Alpine Columbine – Chilliwack, B.C. – June 2013. Image: HFN

Perennial. Zone 2. Ranunculaceae. From the European Alps and Apennines.

This is a grand, very long-blooming species, native to European mountain meadows and open forests. It has been grown in gardens for centuries, and has been much used in Aquilegia hybridization.

Large, short-spurred, dusky violet-blue flowers in profusion top 12 to 18 inch tall plants from mid-spring well into summer. A tidy plant, hardy and adaptable. It will self sow, and will cross pollinate with other Aquilegias growing nearby, so your seedlings will always be something of a surprise as to colour and form.

Aquilegia alpine - Vancouver, June 2011. Image: HFN

Aquilegia alpina – Vancouver, June 2011. Image: HFN

It is noted by Aquilegia authority Robert Nold in his definitive 2003 monograph, Columbines: Aquilegia, Paraquilegia, and Semiaquilegia, that Aquilegia alpina in its pure form is seldom to be had in the plant trade due to the general promiscuity of this genus, to whit: “As with many columbines, the genetic purity seems to have been diluted by cultivation through the centuries…”

Plants I have grown from reliably-sourced seed labelled “alpina” have always shown a strong similarity in colour and habit; the species (or at least the cultivated, evolved form of the species) seems to exist in a fairly stable type.

It would be interesting to grow out some wild-collected seed from Aquilegia alpina’s native habitat to compare with the cultivated strain; perhaps I will request some from this fall’s collectors’ seed lists and see what we come up with.

Sun to shade, good soil and moisture.

Aquilegia alpine - June 2013. Image: HFN

Aquilegia alpina – June 2013. Image: HFN

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Like this:

Like Loading...

Related

Posted in Aquilegia, Blue, Mid Height, Perennial, Plant Portraits, Shade, Spring | Tagged Alpine Columbine, Aquilegia alpina, Blue, Spring |

  • Header image:

    Viola glabella. YELLOW WOOD VIOLET. Stanley, B.C., June 15, 2019.  Image: HFN

  • Recent Posts

    • Viola jooi – TRANSYLVANIAN VIOLET
    • Physochlaina orientalis – ORIENTAL PHYSOCHLAINA
    • Claytonia lanceolata – SPRING BEAUTY, MOUNTAIN POTATO
    • Lewisia rediviva – BITTERROOT
    • Cephalaria tchihatchewii – TCHIHATCHEV’S CEPHALARIA
  • Archives

  • Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

  • Contact Info

    Hill Farm Nursery is located in a rural area north of McLeese Lake, B.C. We are not set up for on-farm visitors at present, but we hope to host you here in future years.
    For 2020 you can find us at:
    WILLIAMS LAKE SEEDY SATURDAY (May 2, 2020)
    McLEESE LAKE MOTHER'S DAY MARKET (May 10, 2020)
    HANDMADE IN THE CARIBOO SALE (Williams Lake, May 23, 2020)
    WILLIAMS LAKE FARMERS' MARKET (May 8 onward)
    QUESNEL FARMERS' MARKET (May 2 onward)
    McLEESE LAKE FARMERS' MARKET (June 7 onward)
    1-250-297-6553 / bscharf@uniserve.com
  • QUESNEL SEEDY SATURDAY 2020 - cancelled!

    Seedy Saturday Quesnel is taking a break in 2020. We'll see you at the 2021 event!
  • WILLIAMS LAKE SEEDY SATURDAY - cancelled

    Williams Lake Farmers' Market site, in the parking lot between the Cariboo Memorial Recreation Complex and Kiwanis Park.
    Due to the COVID-19 situation, this event has been cancelled.
    Originally scheduled for: Saturday, May 2, 2020
    Time: 10 AM till 2 PM
    Hill Farm Nursery hopes to attend! We will be bringing in a selection of heirloom tomato starts and seed-saver-friendly garden treasures. Hardy perennials, too, many with heritage history from the Cariboo and beyond!
  • QUESNEL FARMERS' MARKET

    Helen Dixon Centre
    241 Kinchant Street
    Quesnel. B.C.
    Dates for 2020 - Saturdays, May 2 till October 17
    8:30 AM till 1 PM
  • WILLIAMS LAKE FARMERS' MARKET

    Now in the parking lot beside the Recreation Centre/Pool. Head for Kiwanis Park and you'll find the Market!
    Dates for 2020 - Fridays, May 8 till October 9, 2020
    9 AM till 2 PM
    Tuesdays, June 16 till September 28, 2020
    2 PM till 7 PM
  • BLOCKS R US (Williams Lake)

    152 Old Soda Creek Road
    Williams Lake, B.C.
    Late April onwards.
    Monday to Saturday
    8AM till 5 PM
    Visit the landscaping experts at Blocks R Us for all your hardscaping needs, from topsoil to paving stones. Look for annuals from Frank's Nursery, and premium trees and shrubs from Bron and Sons. Hill Farm Nursery is not likely to be supplying plants to Blocks'R'Us in 2020 due to lack of sufficient stock this year to support a retail location but there will be some nice plants there from other growers - worth checking out!
  • McLEESE LAKE FARMERS' MARKET

    Lakeside Tourist Info Site, located between the Oasis Pub and the Oasis Cafe, and directly across from the McLeese Lake General Store.
    Dates in 2020 - Sundays, July until September 13, 2020
    Time: 9 A.M. till 1 P.M.
  • Affiliations

    Alpine Garden Club of British Columbia
    Alpine Garden Society (Great Britain)
    David Douglas Botanical Garden Society
    Growing North Cariboo Society (F.A.R.M.E.D.)
    North American Rock Garden Society (N.A.R.G.S.)
    Seeds of Diversity Canada

  • Places to Visit:

    SCOUT ISLAND NATURE CENTRE, Williams Lake, B.C. An oasis of peace on the outskirts of a bustling industrial area. Excellent trail network; something to see 365 days of the year - wildflowers, birds, aquatic life and small mammals. Nature centre, resource library, knowledgeable & enthusiastic naturalists on site.

    DAVID DOUGLAS BOTANICAL GARDEN, Prince George, B.C. Located at the University of Northern British Columbia. A small but interesting perennial flower display garden, lilac display, waterfall & bridge, and the Alice Wolczuk Alpine Garden.

    GOODSIR NATURE PARK, Salmon Valley, B.C. 20 miles north of Prince George. 160 acre private nature reserve, 6 miles of trails, open to the public May-Oct. Wildflowers & trees; an active beaver pond; plant museum, guided & self-guided tours; excellent signage; some rare plants. Picnic tables, firepits & camping available. Entry free; donations welcome.

    OSOYOOS DESERT CENTRE, Osoyoos, B.C. 2 km of boardwalk through B.C.'s rarest ecosystem, the "pocket desert." Wildflowers, birds, reptiles, small mammals. Guided & self-guided; small visitor centre.

    ANCIENT FOREST TRAIL, near Dome Creek, Robson Valley, B.C. (Along Highway 16, halfway between Prince George and McBride. Watch for large signs: "Ancient Forest".) Hiking trails through ancient cedar forest, including a recently completed 1/2 kilometer wheelchair accessible boardwalk portion. Built by dedicated volunteers; a prodigious amount of planning and sheer hard work went into this trail system, and it shows. Worth a stop to walk the boardwalk; you will be inspired to come back and hike the wilder trails as well. Huge cedar trees, ferns, water features - a prime example of B.C.'s rare and endangered Inland Rain Forest. Interpretive signage at parking lot, outhouses, well-thought-out wheelchair unloading/loading area and beautifully designed boardwalk. Donation box.

  • Image & Content Re-Use Policy

    This website represents many years of experience and many hours of labour. We are pleased to participate in the free and open transfer of information over the World Wide Web, keeping the following in mind.

    Personal non-commercial use of our text and images is warmly encouraged for all, and for our nursery customers in particular. You may copy, print and store our info for your own purposes. If sharing, we ask that you please cite Hill Farm Nursery as the source.

    All images are taken by us and most of those (but not all) have the tag HFN (for Hill Farm Nursery) in the caption.

    All written material and HFN images are copyright Hill Farm Nursery. Fellow gardeners, plant groups, societies and associations, you are welcome to re-publish our material as long as it is cited, credited and/or linked.

    COMMERCIAL RE-USE POLICY: We request that you contact us for permission for COMMERCIAL re-use of any of our written and photographic content: bscharf@uniserve.com.

    High resolution jpegs of most images on this website are available for a fee.

Blog at WordPress.com.

WPThemes.


Cancel
%d bloggers like this: