How to Grow Aquilegia
'Nora Barlow' from Seed
Named after Charles Darwin's granddaughter — fully double, spurless pompom flowers that begin as deep raspberry pink, fade through pale pink with soft green, and age to nearly pure white, providing three colour moods simultaneously
No aquilegia has a finer story than Nora Barlow. This extraordinary double-flowered columbine was discovered in the garden of Emma Nora Barlow — botanist, editor, plant lover, and granddaughter of Charles Darwin — at her Cambridgeshire home. The variety had been known since at least the seventeenth century in various forms, but it was Nora Barlow's enthusiasm for it and the naming in her honour that secured its place in horticultural history. There is a pleasing symmetry in the fact that a granddaughter of the man who explained evolution and natural selection should be commemorated by one of the most botanically unusual and most genetically distinctive flowers in the British cottage garden tradition.
The flowers are fully double and spurless — the long nectar tubes of a conventional columbine replaced entirely by additional petals, creating a pompom that more closely resembles a miniature dahlia than anything conventionally aquilegia-like. The colour combination is unique: deep raspberry pink in freshly opened blooms, gradually fading through pale pink tinged with green, and arriving at nearly pure white as the flower ages. Because all three stages are present simultaneously on a single stem — deep, pale, and white — the plant always appears to be displaying a gradient of tones rather than a single colour, creating an effect of extraordinary botanical complexity and charm.
Quick Facts at a Glance
Plant Type
Hardy Perennial (H7)
Sowing Time
Jan–May · Sep (stratify recommended)
Flowering Months
May – June (year 2)
Position
Sun to partial shade
Height & Spread
70–75cm · 40–50cm
Difficulty Rating
3 out of 5 — Moderate
Understanding the Plant
Aquilegia vulgaris var. stellata 'Nora Barlow' is one of the most botanically distinctive aquilegias in cultivation. The stellata classification indicates the spurless, rosette-forming flower structure — the same group that includes all the Barlow series varieties. Unlike the long-spurred forms grown primarily for pollinator value, stellata aquilegias have sacrificed the nectar spurs for additional petals, and the resulting flowers are fully double, upward-facing rather than nodding, and quite different in character from the classic Granny's Bonnet silhouette.
At 70–75cm, Nora Barlow is among the taller aquilegias — the stems strong and branching, producing multiple flowers per plant rather than the single stem of some more compact varieties. The vase life of seven to ten days makes it genuinely useful as a cut flower, and the three-stage colour fade means that a vase of Nora Barlow cut across a week contains a naturally evolving display of raspberry, pale pink-green and white that requires no other flowers to complete it.
The Three-Colour Fade
The unique colour journey of Nora Barlow — from deep raspberry to pale pink-green to near-white — occurs on every bloom over the course of its three to four week display period. Because a mature plant carries flowers at all stages simultaneously, the overall effect is of three different flowers on the same stem: vivid and saturated at the freshly opened tips, softened and botanical in the middle, and nearly white and very delicate at the oldest blooms. This natural gradient is one of the most complex and most beautiful effects available from any single cottage garden perennial.
The Heritage Story
This variety has been grown in British cottage gardens since the early seventeenth century, making it one of the oldest continuously cultivated garden flowers in the UK. The naming after Emma Nora Barlow (1885–1989) — who lived to 104 years of age — was a tribute both to her love of this specific plant and to her wider contributions to botanical science, particularly her editing of Charles Darwin's unpublished papers. Growing Nora Barlow is growing a piece of British horticultural and scientific history.
When & How to Sow
Nora Barlow has the same germination requirements as all aquilegias — photoblastic seed that benefits significantly from cold stratification before sowing. The germination can be slow even with stratification (14–30 days) and very erratic without it (30–90 days or more). Patience is essential, and the fridge or outdoor winter stratification approaches are both strongly recommended.
Stratification is the Key
Place the sealed seed packet in the salad drawer of the fridge for two to four weeks before sowing. This replicates the cold stratification that aquilegia seed requires to break dormancy, transforming slow and erratic germination into faster, more reliable sprouting. The simpler approach for gardeners with outdoor space is to sow in September into pots of moist compost and leave outside over winter — natural cold does the work, and seedlings emerge in spring ready to grow on.
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Refrigerate the seed for two to four weeks. Place the sealed packet in the salad drawer. Remove and sow within a week of coming out of the fridge — do not allow refrigerated seed to warm for extended periods before sowing.
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Surface sow onto moist, fine seed compost. Do not cover with compost — light aids germination. A fine dusting of grit or vermiculite (2mm) helps retain moisture around the fine seed without blocking light.
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Maintain 15–21°C until germination. Cooler conditions within this range are preferable — Nora Barlow, like all aquilegias, germinates better at 15–18°C than at 20–21°C. Germination with stratification typically takes 14–30 days.
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Prick out into individual 7–9cm pots of multipurpose compost. Handle seedlings by the leaf only. Grow on in cool, bright conditions. Aquilegia seedlings grow steadily and develop into compact rosettes of ferny foliage through summer.
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Plant out in autumn or spring. Space 30–40cm apart in sun or partial shade. Nora Barlow planted out in autumn establishes a strong root system over winter and typically flowers more freely in its first flowering season than spring-planted specimens.
Growing On Tips
Sun to Partial Shade
Nora Barlow performs excellently in both full sun and partial shade. In partial shade, the three-stage colour fade is often more visible and the blooms last slightly longer on the plant. In full sun the colours are richer but the display period a little shorter. Both are beautiful; the choice depends on what else is in the border.
Moisture
Like all aquilegias, Nora Barlow prefers consistently moist, fertile, well-drained soil. The short-lived nature of the plant is exacerbated by prolonged drought — consistent moisture extends the life of individual plants significantly. Mulch in spring to retain moisture and apply a balanced feed at the start of the growing season.
Self-Seeding Colony
Allow some seed heads to mature and release seed each season — this is the key to maintaining a permanent Nora Barlow colony without annual re-sowing. Self-seeded offspring of Nora Barlow are generally very consistent in flower form and colour, particularly if grown away from other aquilegias. It is one of the most reliably self-seeding aquilegias in cultivation.
Leaf Miner
Remove any leaf-miner-affected leaves (those showing white or brown tunnels) promptly and destroy. On established plants this is cosmetic; on first-year seedlings it can be more damaging. Monitor from April, inspect the underside of leaves for the tiny cream-coloured larvae tunnelling through them, and remove affected material as soon as it appears.
Cutting for the Vase
Cut Nora Barlow when the lowest flowers on the stem are opening — typically two to three blooms fully open with more in bud above them. At this stage the natural colour gradient from raspberry to white begins immediately and provides a sustained display in the vase. Condition in deep cool water for several hours before arranging. Vase life is seven to ten days.
Planned Renewal
Nora Barlow lives three to four years in good conditions. Self-seeding provides natural renewal, but it is good practice to sow fresh seed every two to three years to supplement the colony with vigorous young plants that flower generously in their second year. The combination of self-seeding plants and fresh sowings keeps the colony perpetually productive.
Common Problems & How to Fix Them
| Problem | Likely Cause | What to Do |
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| Poor germination | Seed not stratified | Refrigerate for two to four weeks before sowing. Unstratified aquilegia seed is notoriously slow and erratic — many seeds simply will not germinate without a cold period. Stratification is the single most important step for reliable results. |
| No flowers in year one | Normal perennial behaviour | Aquilegia establishes in year one and flowers in year two. This is entirely expected. The ferny rosette of foliage that develops in year one is building the root system that supports the flowering in year two and beyond. |
| Flowers not fully double | Cross-pollination with spurred varieties | Nora Barlow self-seeds consistently double if grown in isolation. If grown near spurred aquilegias, self-seeded offspring may show reduced doubleness or hybrid flower forms. Grow Nora Barlow away from other varieties to maintain form, or buy fresh seed each season rather than relying entirely on self-seeding. |
| Leaf miner damage | Aquilegia leaf miner fly larvae | Remove affected leaves promptly. Do not compost. Inspect from April. Established plants tolerate it; first-year seedlings need prompt management. |
| Colour fades too quickly | Hot sun, stress, or plant ageing | In very hot positions the three-stage colour fade accelerates and blooms age more quickly. Partial shade extends the display period. Consistent moisture also helps — stressed plants age their blooms faster. The fade itself is a designed feature, not a flaw. |
When to Expect Flowers
Nora Barlow flowers in its second season — May and June. The flowering window is the same as all aquilegias, filling the precious gap between the last spring bulbs and the full summer perennial display. A well-established Nora Barlow plant at its second or third year peak carries multiple branching stems, each with several flowers at different stages of the colour fade, producing a display that lasts three to four weeks and provides cutting material throughout.
Sow with prior cold stratification — flowers come in May and June of the following season, with the distinctive raspberry-to-white colour fade beginning on freshly opened blooms and completing on the oldest.
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| 🌸 Flowering |
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Plant Specifications
A flower with four hundred years of history and a Darwin connection
Aquilegia 'Nora Barlow' is one of the most historically significant and most botanically remarkable flowers you can grow from seed — a variety known in British gardens since the early seventeenth century, named after one of the most remarkable women in British scientific history, carrying a colour that shifts from deep raspberry to pale green-white as each bloom ages, and producing on a single stem the most complex and most beautiful natural colour gradient in the spring garden. Stratify the seed, be patient through year one, allow it to self-seed, and let this historic variety become a permanent part of your garden.
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