Aquilegia vulgaris William Guiness - Columbine

A truly easy and hardy perennial plant, present in almost every garden, the common Columbine enchants with its elegance, grace, rich palette of colours, and very pretty flowers with such original shapes! William Guiness is an amazing variety, with dark purple flowers and a white corolla. A very surprising colour combination, for an extremely dramatic Columbine, almost black and white! It will make a statement in a contemporary-style garden!

Aquilegia vulgaris, also known as Granny's Bonnet, Columbine, or Cornet, is native to the Northern Hemisphere and belongs to the Ranunculaceae family. A very hardy herbaceous perennial, William Guiness Columbine forms an upright, leafy clump 50 cm (20in) wide, from which long flower stems branch upwards. Its deciduous foliage is a bright green, slightly mottled, light, delicate, and highly decorative. The basal leaves, with long petioles, are deeply divided each with three leaflets. However, the leaves on the upper part of the stems are simple and sessile. From May to June, sturdy branched stems, up to 60 cm (24in) or more, bear delicate and charming single flowers. They consist of a corolla with 5 sepals, each with short horned spurs, 5 lanceolate sepals, and numerous stamens. These flowers have very dark violet sepals, almost black, and a white corolla with a dark purple-black centre, offering a striking colour contrast, ideal in a black and white garden, very contemporary.

Columbines contain toxic substances, particularly in the seeds, and the sap can cause skin burns.

Granny's Bonnets are very accommodating and of truly easy cultivation and extreme hardiness, thriving in non-scorching sun or partial shade, in light, humus-bearing, and moist soil, even limestone. Columbines were already grown in medieval flower beds, and the tradition has been perpetuated in cottage gardens. Compact and discreet, they are an essential ornamental plant in mixed borders, where their delicate and highly decorative foliage and graceful flowering will bring lightness. Columbines can be planted in many areas of the garden, taking care to leave a 20 cm (8in) space around the base: in the middle of a perennial bed, in a border, at the base of bushes, at the edge of woodlands or on a slope. They will be magnificent when planted in groups to create a dense clump. They make excellent cut flowers if picked when just opening, for beautiful country-style bouquets. In flower beds, this William Guiness Columbine can be paired with low-growing perennials and perennials with decorative foliage such as Hostas, tall perennials such as Foxgloves, Bleeding Hearts, Bellflowers with peach-like leaves, a double julienne, and some horned violets.

As Granny's Bonnet easily self-seeds in the garden, leave a few flower stems to produce seeds. Keep only the stems of the strongest plants as this operation exhausts the plant and reduces its lifespan, which is rather short (3 to 4 years) for a perennial. It is also possible for garden Columbines to cross-pollinate, thus obtaining surprising new colours, and why not a new variety?