June Flowers and Showers

We've had a fair bit of rain this month, but the flowers are looking great. At left is "Coral Star" columbine, which is a small 12" plant with flowers looking skyward.

Pictured: My collection of semi-shaded coral bells (Heuchera) with shades of purple and green foliage. The blooms are yet to appear.


Pictured: Purple and white columbine, I believe this to be "Origami Blue and White" of the Origami series. It is a mid-size plant and doing well in part shade.

Pictured: unnamed white columbine with very long spurs and outwards facing flowers.

Columbines [Aquilegia] are the showy ladies of the month, with a variety of colors and shapes in my yard. I inherited some pendant downwards-facing purple flowered plants with the yard, but have planted several others. I think the perfect columbine would have upturned flowers, long or curly spurs, and a long-blooming period. So far, the white one is my favourite. It bloomed for most of the season last year. I took seeds from it and grew 5 new plants from it this year. I'll have to wait and see what I get out of the new plants, as they may have crossed to make similar or different plants.