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Wiltshire, United Kingdom Gb

i want to take seeds from my granny bonnet plants for next year...should I allow the seed heads to dry before cutting the stems...or pick them whilst the seed heads are still green and hang them upside down in a dry place to allow them to fall out naturally?




Answers

 

Wait until they wither on the plant and go brown and brittle. Then you have hundreds of seeds to gather or scatter by breaking the seed pods. But, the resulting plants may not be same colour as the parent. Sometimes you get surprises!

12 Jun, 2012

 

Isn't the sad thing about Aquilegias that they all end up as red and white bog standard ones after a year or two? Apart from coddling the original plants, I wonder how others manage to keep interesting ones going in particular colours and flower shapes and so on. I used to have lots of Nora Barlows but they have all vanished, as have all my pure yellow ones, except for one in a pot. Would growing them in isolation produce better results from seed from others' experience?

12 Jun, 2012

 

Most of mine have reverted to pale pink, which is fine, but i started with other colours, too. Interesting point about growing in isolation, Bertie.

12 Jun, 2012

 

Mine are all varying shades of pink to purple and they are pretty but boring. Imagine my delight when a pale lemon one appeared this year. Although it only had two blooms and didn't last long, I can't wait to see it again next spring. Living in hope anyway.

12 Jun, 2012

 

My Aquilegias have gone frantic this year and have exploded through my border ending up in a fantastic display, have some 50/60 plants. They are going over now and I just leave mine to go brown and dry and do their own thing, might have 100 plants next year who knows! At the garden centre one Aq.plant was £6.99! I have white, pink, purple and pale blue, lovely.

12 Jun, 2012

 

Mine were good this year too but it's funny the way they migrate. I had a very pretty double one which disappeared from its original bed but self seeded in a pot a good twelve feet away!
And don't get me started on feral raspberries......

12 Jun, 2012

 

Aquilegias are so promiscuous! Perhaps isolation is a good idea ("You're grounded, my girl!") . I usually end up with pinkish-purplish ones too. I've never seen red and white ones!

12 Jun, 2012

 

Mine mostly revert to shades of blue, but those of a friend of mine come up as Norah Barlow year after year. Weird innit?

12 Jun, 2012

 

I grew a variety of Mckenna hybrids. One of the plants grew into a most beautiful purple double. Now I have double forms of Mckenna all over the place, sadly a lot of them have yellow in them, but I have some lovely purple and lilac semi double forms. I also have ordinary white and purple ones, so the newbies are all sorts of forms and colours. I just wish they would drop the yellow.

13 Jun, 2012

 

I have lots from self seeding, most are small blooms in pink white and blue. There are also purple and yellow and plain yellow that are very pretty and these two have large blooms. I too have never seen a red one !

13 Jun, 2012

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