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Aquilegia rockii

Ranunculaceae

Aquilegia rockii

Habitat: partial shade

Flowering: spring

Height: 45 cm

Width: 40 cm

Soil: any good garden soil

There are dozens of species of Aquilegia, and hundreds of hybrids. The species range from small alpines from high in the mountains to tall plants from woods or meadows, which would be at home in a herbaceous border. The ones we offer include excellent and reliable rock garden plants and others that are unusual or new in cultivation. They come from all round the Northern Hemisphere.

Aquilegia rockii bears flowers of an unusual dusky purple colour, in an open, loose structure of slender stems. It is refined, elegant, not like some of the very colourful cultivated varieties.
1 litre pot £5.00

		Aquilegia 'Barlow Pink' has the same double flower structure as 'Nora Barlow', but in this variety they are soft pink. An unusual looking variety, but easy and reliable.
		Aquilegia bertolonii is a fine plant for the rock garden with lots of blue (slightly purplish) spurred flowers. It comes from southern Europe.
		Aquilegia canadensis bears red flowers with yellow centres.
		Aquilegia canadensis 'Nana' is a dwarf form of this species, with yellow-centred red flowers and quite dark green leaves.
		Aquilegia chaplinei is like a miniature version of Aquilegia chrysantha, with long-spurred flowers that are rich yellow. It comes from rocky places in New Mexico and Texas, but can be grown in the UK in a sunny place in well-drained soil.
		Aquilegia chrysantha is a fine species, with showy, long-spurred, yellow flowers. It comes from the Chihuahua Desert, but nevertheless is happy in our cooler, wetter conditions.
		Aquilegia coerulea is widespread in the Rocky Mountains, and was selected as the state flower for Colorado. In most forms it has blue sepals with long spurs and white petals.
		Aquilegia coerulea var. coerulea is a showy plant, widespread in the Rocky Mountains, and selected as the state flower for Colorado. In this form it has medium or deep blue sepals with long spurs and white petals.
		Aquilegia discolor is a fine plant for the rock garden with lots of blue flowers with white centres, and short, slightly hooked spurs.
		Aquilegia elegantula has red flowers with yellow centres, not unlike some of the shorter forms of Aquilegia canadensis.
		Aquilegia flabellata f. alba 'White Jewel' is effectively a selection of Aquilegia flabellata 'Nana', with pure white flowers, held just above the clump of slightly glaucous foliage. Excellent for a rock garden.
		Aquilegia flabellata var. pumila f. alba is a reliable plant for the rock garden soon giving masses of white flowers on short stems. Originally from Japan.
		Aquilegia flabellata var. pumila f. kurilensis 'Rosea' is a dwarf variety with nodding, pinkish purple flowers, cream at the centre, and blue-green foliage. The long name is often abbreviated to Aquilegia kurilensis 'Rosea'.
		Aquilegia flabellata 'Rosea' is a reliable and easy plant for the rock garden soon giving masses of flowers on short stems, which should be rosy pink, although seed-raised plants may occasionally vary in colour.
		Aquilegia jonesii is a dwarf alpine species with blue or purple, upturned, short-spurred flowers. Very good for screes or raised beds.
		Aquilegia jonesii x saximontana is a dwarf variety with white-centred blue flowers.
		Aquilegia longissima has scented, pale yellow flowers with bright yellow, backward-pointing spurs.
		Aquilegia pyrenaica is quite a short plant, with deep purply-blue flowers. It is related to Aquilegia alpina, but it distinctly shorter, so is more suitable for the rock garden.
		Aquilegia saximontana also known as the Rocky Mountain Columbine so a true alpine aquilegia. The smooth, blue-green foliage provides a pleasant contrast with flowers which range in colour from pale blue to violet and lavender to cream and tan. Very attractive to bees and butterflies.
		Aquilegia scopulorum has lovely lavender-blue to violet flowers with long slender spurs and a creamy white centre. These bob about above a cushion-like mass of blue-green leaves. Ideal plant for a scree or raised alpine bed.
		Aquilegia sibirica is a delightful species, with very large, clear blue, short-spurred flowers, with the central part white, shading to blue at the base. The flowers are suspended from arching, spreading stems.
		Aquilegia vulgaris has tall stems of lilac-blue flowers, white edged in the centre. A real cottage garden favourite.
		Aquilegia vulgaris SDR5436 is a European species, with many purplish blue flowers, easily grown in sun or partial shade. This collection comes from woods, over limestone, in the eastern Alps.
		Aquilegia vulgaris var. stellata is a form of Aquilegia caerulea, differing principally in not having long spurs on the flowers, and it is also somewhat shorter. It grows in damp places in open woodland. The flowers are usually deep pink. American.
		Aquilegia vulgaris var. stellata 'Greenapples' is one of a group of varieties with double flowers and no spurs, which are deemed to look like Clematis flowers. I guess that it must depend on who does the deeming. Anyway, it is unusual, not just because of the form of the flowers, but because they are lime green, at least when they first open, then becoming cream edged with green, and finally creamy white all over. The leaves are a similar shade of green when they are fresh, but they darken on maturing.
		Aquilegia vulgaris var. stellata 'Nora Barlow' is a favourite with Chelsea garden designers, with its distinctive double flowers, which combine pink and white in a subtle way.
		Aquilegia vulgaris 'William Guiness' has beautiful deep purple flowers with contrasting white corollas and smooth, blue-green foliage.
		Aquilegia yabeana has long-spurred flowers of the deepest ink blue, very striking. This form comes from Japan, although the species is also found in Korea and north-east China.
		Semiaquilegia ecalcarata is very like an aquilegia, so it is included with them here, but the flowers do not have the characteristic spurs. They are borne in loose sprays, and are in a colour range from dusky pink through to deep purplish red - all classy colours. It originates from China.