Aquilegia are one of my favourite late spring/early summer flowers.  They are a cottage style perennial, and are also known as Columbines but traditionally named “Grannies Bonnets” !

If you look at the shape of the flowers they look like an old fashioned ladies bonnet that would be tied with ribbon under the chin.

They come in a wide range of colours – purple, pink, white, blue, mixed and yet to flower in my garden  – sunny yellow.

Aquilegia produce masses of seeds after flowering and I pass some of these on to my gardening friends.  The remainder create LOTS of new plants near to their mummies, the following spring!

Happy Gardening.

Brigid P. Gallagher is a retired natural medicines therapist, passionate organic gardener and author of “Watching the Daisies- Life lessons on the Importance of Slow,” a holistic memoir dedicated to the art of mindfulness and healing from debilitating illness.