If you want surprises in your garden each spring, plant a few varieties of columbine, and see how they evolve. They are easy to propagate from seed. This plant is great for producing large numbers of seed and if you have two distinct species in your garden, it will not take long to have hybrids. They tend to be short lived plants (3 years, more or less) you need to keep new ones coming along from seed, so letting them go to seed is a good idea. You can easily harvest seeds into envelopes to share with friends. Please remember that hybrids may not return true to form from seed.
This year I have some "new" styles. I wonder what will come up next year.
Have you tried adding columbine flowers to salads? They taste sweet and brighten up the greens.
By Bekkicat (Guest Post)
06/14/2007
How do you collect the seed from the Columbine? I have one that has been in the same pot for way too long.
Editor's Note: After they bloom some green pods will form. Let them dry on the plant a while, then cut them off before they open (once they open the seeds go on the ground.) Put them on a cookie sheet or in a flat pan until they dry and split open. Once they are dry, they can be put into a baggie or just plant the seeds where you want them to grow.
By
06/14/2007
Hi Regina ~ You mentioned you have "some new styles this year", make that some BEAUTIFUL new styles. Wow, so pretty. Are they in the same flower family as gladiolus? By any chance, are you selling any seeds? Let me know.Thanks for sharing, what a "green thumb" you have. ~ Holly
By Jaclyn (Guest Post)
06/13/2007
I planted columbine more than twelve years ago, they have outlasted the pots I planted them in. At first they were slow to grow, but they have come back every year. So beautiful!