Aquilegias

I just love aquilegias. They are my favourite flowers. These cheeky promiscuous plants pop up everywhere and it is always a surprise to see how they will look like. In my garden are pure white ones (which look fab in the shade when combined with other woodlanders such as ferns), sultry slender dark beauties like "Black Barlow" who look irresistible when combined with golden tinged grasses such anemanthele lessoniana, pretty old fashioned pink columbines which really look like a Jane Austen type granny's bonnet, dark purple ones which are closely related to the wild form and some washed out ones which I can't bring myself out to rip out because they still have such a pretty shape. I can't wait to see their rosette shaped leaves penetrate the soil in early spring. I always count how many plants I will have.