Aquilegia vulgaris Clementine Salmon Rose - Columbine

Aquilegia vulgaris 'Clementine Salmon Rose' is a unique and recent hybrid columbine variety, distinguished by flowers resembling a double clematis. Their spur-less shape is original and their changing colour is quite remarkable. The corollas evolve from salmon pink to old rose, tinged with lavender and purple, creating a multicoloured effect, as delightful as a bouquet. It is a large, hardy herbaceous perennial, as easy to grow as wild columbine. It blooms from spring to the end of summer, without any special care, and easily naturalizes in rock gardens and borders.

Aquilegia vulgaris 'Clementine Salmon Rose' belongs to the renunculaceae family. It is a cultivar derived from Aquilegia vulgaris (or clematiflora), native to Europe, North Africa, and temperate Asia, where it grows in deciduous woodland clearings and meadows. It is a very hardy herbaceous perennial which forms an upright, leafy clump, 50 cm (20in) tall and 40 cm (16in) wide from which long flowering stems rise up. From May to June, stems up to 90 cm (35in) tall rise, at the top of which charming double, spur-less flowers bloom, facing upwards, well clear of the foliage, creating a show with their changing hues. The corollas change with the age of the flower, beginning salmon, then changing from the tip of the petals to old rose, then gradually shades of fuchsia, lavender, or purple. Its deciduous dark green-blue foliage is decorative and the cut of the basal leaves gives an impression of lightness.

Columbines were cultivated in flowerbeds in The Middle Ages, and cottage gardens have perpetuated the tradition. They are unassuming and essential in mixed borders, where they will bring lightness and charm. They can be planted in many places in the garden, taking care to leave a space of 20 cm (8in) around each plant: in the middle of a perennial bed, in a border, at the base of bushes, on the edge of woodlands or on a slope. They will be magnificent when planted in groups to obtain a beautiful dense clump. Pick them when they are just opening for magnificent country bouquets. In flowerbeds, with a 'cottage garden' spirit, 'Salmon Rose' can be associated with all kinds of perennials, such as Foxgloves, Bleeding Hearts, or Peach-leaved Bellflowers.