The Buttercup family has gifted gardeners with this delicate wonder—the columbine. How graceful it is, and how vibrant and beautiful it can be! So, today we'll explore columbine, growing from seed, when to plant this beauty, how to propagate it, and how to care for it.
Planting by seeds
It's important to remember that columbine is self-scattering, so if you want to collect seeds, attach cheesecloth bags to the flower stalks as they begin to fade. This will trap the seeds and prevent them from scattering haphazardly across your garden. The collected seeds can be planted immediately and then replanted in the spring as desired. You can also store the seeds indoors until spring by mixing them with soil and storing them in the refrigerator.
In the spring, around March, remove from the refrigerator, rinse, fill the trays with nutrient-rich substrate, and sow the seeds. Sprinkle a light, thin layer of soil, about 3 mm thick, on top, mist with a spray bottle, and cover with burlap. The temperature should be cool, around 17 degrees Celsius. The sprouts will emerge in one to two weeks, and when they have two leaves, transfer them to the soil for further growth, around June. Then transplant them to their permanent location.
Read: Perennial phlox - planting and care, photos.
Care
Simply remove weeds, water the plants regularly (by the way, their roots go so deep that they only require watering during droughts; otherwise, they can survive for long periods without water), and loosen the soil—that's all there is to it. You'll also need to feed them twice a season—with a mineral supplement and mullein.
Reproduction
Besides sowing seeds, columbine can also be propagated by dividing the clumps (not highly recommended, as its roots are deep, fragile, and easily damaged. This can lead to plant diseases and even death during transplantation). Therefore, the second method—cutting—is preferable. Before the columbine blooms in the spring, cut a young shoot with a sharp knife, root-dress the lower edge, and plant it in a greenhouse, preferably right on the plot, covered with a cut-off plastic bottle. It's best to cover the plant upside down so you can unscrew the bottle cap and water it. After ten days, remove the cover, dig up the cutting, and plant it in a pre-designated location.
More to read: Aquilegia - planting and care in open ground photo.