Sunday 23 May 2010

Crossing Aquilegias

For no other reason than that they both came into flower at the same time and are of similar height, I have been transferring pollen from A.viridiflora to A.canadensis and the same in reverse. I'd like seed from both plants so I can compare how they cross.
The two are very similar in some respects and different in others. They are both northern natives with canadensis populating North America, from Canada down through the States, and viridiflora coming from the temperate region of Asia from Siberia to Mongolia and much of China. The flowers are of a similar size and there are some similarities in the foliage although for me canadensis wins in the latter category, viridiflora is more finely divided but canadensis has an interesting dark hue to the leaves and very dark stems. A.viridiflora has really very scented flowers, almost hyacinth-like to my mind. The 'wings' are green but the body a deep purple, the whole flower an elegantly balanced shape with a full skirt even in length, slender necks and proportionate wings. A.canadensis is quite a different flower. For one thing it is not scented, for another it has a much shorter skirt which is barely visible under the wings and is a washed out yellow. The body and neck are fat, almost bulbous in a glorious shade of red. In contrast to viridiflora it seems out of balance, fatter at the top like a crown.
I had them both on the windowsill together in isolation and took off all but one flower from each plant, as I write the seed pods are fattening and when they're dry I'll sow them.