Last year, while perusing the walls of seed packets at the garden centre, one packet caught my eye.
Acquilegia Petticoat Pink. The packet stated “early colour perfect in cottage gardens”. I was taken by the picture of the flowers: delicate pink and white frilly bells.
Reading the front of the packet it said to sow February to June, flowers May to July. Perfect, I thought, for some early colour and pretty little flowers.
Only when I got home and went to sow the seeds did I realise that they are a hardy perennial which flowers the year after sowing!
For novices reading this, a perennial is a plant which continues to grow for at least 3 years. It took me a while to learn that.
So although I had bought seeds for a plant that would not flower for at least 15 months, I would at least get a few years of benefit.
I planted the seeds on 20 April 2011, potted them on in June, kept them in a cold frame over the summer and planted them in the ground in their flowering position in September.
Finally, after just over a year of waiting, the first flowers have come out.
They are absolutely stunning. Smaller than I thought they would be and, in the ground, they look a bit spindly until they fill out, but a welcome addition of colour around the base of the apple and pear tree where I planted them.
I am so pleased with them I have bought some more acquilegia seeds called lime sorbet and, provided they germinate and grow successfully, I will plant them in between the petticoat pinks.
Once they have died back I also plan to plant the remaining tulip bulbs (the ones that did not get eaten by the pheasant!) in among them.
gardeningforlawyers 