Aquilegia ‘Tower Light Blue’

This pale blue double aquilegia has just finished flowering in my mum’s garden, so I have carefully collected the seed and will distribute it around her family and friends.

National collection holder (and fellow member of The Cottage Garden Society), Carrie Thomas, advised me to ‘sow and select seedlings with no purple in leaf stem on germination. They should then come true, or right sort of colours anyway’.

She also warns of a new extremely virulent disease that is killing aquilegias. If you grow them, or want to after seeing this picture, best to check out her excellent advice using this link:

http://www.touchwoodplants.co.uk/aquilegia-downy-mildew.htm

Carrie sells wonderful collections of aquilegia seeds from her site to gardeners in the UK, but warns that this may be the last year she can if the mildew has taken hold of her collection. I will be buying some, but will be vigilant when the seedlings emerge, destroying anything with the telltale signs on leaves that indicates they may harbour the disease