I love columbine (Aquilegia.) My first experience with columbine came only here in Virginia. We didn't grow it in my childhood garden and I vaguely remember it at the garden center where I worked. I saw it at Lowe's here in Virginia and planted one, but like potato chips or M&Ms, you can't just have one columbine. And believe me, they see to that themselves; they seed prolifically, and I now have a lovely patch of smaller columbines under the large parent plant shown here like a hen with her chicks.
Today's gardening essay for Main Line Gardens is on the columbine. Enjoy!
