Aquilegia japonica (Dwarf Fan-Leaved Columbine)

Aquilegia japonica (Dwarf Fan-Leaved Columbine) is a compact perennial boasting nodding, pale violet-blue flowers, 1.5 in. across (4 cm), with creamy-white petal tips. The flowers rise above the lovely foliage mound of finely divided, glaucous green leaves. The foliage remains handsome throughout summer, provided the soil is kept moist. Blooming in late spring to early summer, this perennial will self-seed in the landscape in satisfactory growing conditions.

• Recipient of the prestigious Award of Garden Merit of the Royal Horticultural Society.
• Grows in a bushy, upright clump, up to 12-18 in. tall (30-45 cm) and 18-24 in. wide (45-60 cm).
• Performs best in part shade, in fertile, moist, but well-drained soils. 
• Attracts bees and butterflies, but is ignored by rabbits and deer!
• Easy to grow, this plant is a welcomed addition to beds and borders or rock gardens.
• Subject to fungal diseases, borers, leaf miners, and aphids.
• Cut back foliage affected by fungal diseases.
• Propagate by seed sown in pots in a cold frame as soon as seed is ripe or in spring.
• Native to Japan.

Aquilegia is a genus of clump-forming, short-lived perennials noted for their late spring to midsummer blooms of single or double, short-spurred or spurless flowers, in a variety of colors ranging from blue to violet to white to pink to red. A classic element of herbaceous borders, Columbines mix beautifully with peonies, irises, alliums and roses.