Columbine - Mixed Variegated Seeds (Aquilegia)

My colorful special mix (Lucky dip for beds & woodland edges)

Scope of delivery: 30+ seeds each.

Bring a piece of romantic cottage garden home! These seeds come from my own colorful mix of the plants shown in the photos.

What's special about these seeds: The plants that emerge from these seeds can look completely different due to cross-pollination. For me, no two plants are alike. Specific color preferences are not possible due to the mix – but with every seed, you get an absolute unique specimen that cannot be bought in any garden center!

Growth & Appearance

• Lifespan: Perennial, absolutely winter-hardy.

• Growth height: Depending on cross-pollination, usually between 40 and 80 cm.

• Habit: Very graceful and loosely structured. The stems are thin, the blue-green foliage delicate and almost fern-like.

• Bloom: From May to July, the fascinating, bell-shaped flowers with their distinctive spurs seem to float above the foliage.

Origin Various wild species of columbine can be found almost all over the Northern Hemisphere in temperate zones, often at the edges of sparse forests or in mountainous regions. In our cottage gardens, it has been an absolute classic for centuries.

Ingredients (IMPORTANT NOTE) Columbines belong to the buttercup family (Ranunculaceae). All parts of the plant (especially the seeds) are toxic and contain, among other things, the alkaloid magnoflorine and cyanogenic glycosides. The plant is therefore purely ornamental and absolutely not suitable for consumption! The plant sap can also cause irritation in sensitive skin.

Use

• In the garden: An indispensable plant for semi-shady beds, woodland edges, or romantic natural gardens.

• For insects: The flowers with their long nectar spurs are an absolute favorite food for long-tongued bumblebees and butterflies.

• As a cut flower: Also makes an excellent and very delicate addition to spring and early summer bouquets.

History In the art of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, the columbine was a highly symbolic plant. Because of its flower shape, which with a little imagination resembles a flock of small doves, it was considered a symbol of the Holy Spirit (hence its English name Columbine, derived from columba = dove).

Curiosity Columbines are extremely promiscuous in the garden! If you have different colors and forms in the garden, they cheerfully cross-pollinate with each other. They also love to "wander": they self-seed and suddenly appear in the garden in places where you didn't plant them the following year. It is precisely this characteristic that ensures the wonderful, surprising color plays of your seed mix!

Location, Care & Other Important Things

• Location: Preferably partial shade. Intense midday sun is usually not well tolerated in the long run.

• Soil: Humus-rich, loose, and moderately moist. No waterlogging.

• Care: Absolutely easy to care for. If you want to prevent uncontrolled self-seeding in your own garden, you should cut off the withered flower stalks in time before the seeds ripen.

Sowing instructions: Columbine (Aquilegia)

Columbines are so-called cold germinators. Nature has given them a built-in protective mechanism so that they do not germinate in the warm autumn and then freeze in winter.

When and how to sow?

• The cold period: The seeds must be stratified before germination. This means they need winter (and its cold stimuli) before they germinate.

• The best time: Ideally, you sow the seeds in situ before November in the open ground.

• Sowing depth (light germinators): Columbines germinate better with light. So just sprinkle the seeds onto the raked, weed-free soil and only cover them with a very thin layer of sand or soil (rather just press them down) so they don't blow away.

• Germination: Nature does the rest! In spring, when the days get warmer, the seeds begin to germinate in their place.

Available again: June 2026