Aquilegia 'Chocolate Soldier'

Chocolate is a weakness for many and to have it in flower form makes it even harder to resist! The blooms of Aquilegia 'Chocolate Soldier' have a soft, sweet scent and open in profusion from late spring into summer. The fragrance won't drift from the plants like it does for Lilies and Roses, but if you get up close and personal with them you will be able to enjoy their toothsome perfume.

These sweet plants date back to 1902 and have become floral heirlooms. Aquilegia 'Chocolate Soldier' is a dwarf variety that grows 20-35cm tall. Undeniably charming, the deep mahogany purple petals are coupled with green sepals and hang like little bells.

Aquilegias have sweet flowers and delightfully lacy, fern like foliage. They make a beautiful foil for the fading spring flowering bulbs - as their fresh foliage begins growing in early spring, when the bulbs are going into senescence.

Aquilegia are suitable for growing in a lightly shaded to morning sun position. You could plant them in borders, as massed plantings, in beds or in containers.

After the initial flowering has finished, you can cut the stems back to the basal foliage and add some fertiliser to encourage more blooms. You can leave the last flowers of the season to form seed heads for future generations of plants, keeping in mind seedlings may not flower true to type as Aquilegias hybridise easily. But you could also end up with something amazing and entirely new.

Aquilegias really are a cottage garden essential with sweet flowers and delightful lacy foliage. It is hard to show how really amazing they are, you need to try them for yourself.

The botanical name, Aquilegia stems from the Latin word for Eagle, as the spurs resemble Eagles talons.