Neighbor News
Windham Garden Club - Origami Columbine
Origami Columbine, a native plant to North America and why gardeners in your area are planting it in all of their gardens!
Written by: By Julia Salfia
WGC has plants to promote at this year’s plant sale which will thrive in our local gardens! Hear from one of our members about the first of many we will be selling:
Over the 15 years I have been a member of the Windham Garden Club, I have purchased a variety of plants from the Windham Garden Club Plant Sale. One of my family's favorite plants is the Origami Columbine. In a sea of plants waiting to be loaded and transported to the plant sale, this plant caught my daughter’s attention. This specie of columbine looks very different from the other columbines growing in my yard.
The variety sold at the plant sale has outside petals that are a beautiful shade of blue. Some years we have sold a variety with light pink outer petals. The center is creamy white. I believe the formation of the inside petals caught my daughter’s attention. They resemble a game made out of folded paper that kids place their fingers in. The center of the flower is the perfect size for a young child to place his or her fingers in. In addition to attracting my daughter, we found that this flower also attracts hummingbirds and butterflies.
From a practical standpoint, this plant is perfect. Living in a rural area, we have many different animals that treat our gardens like an all you can eat buffet. One of the major positive features of this plant is that the deer, groundhogs, squirrels, and chipmunks, which consume various other plant species in my yard, don’t seem to enjoy the taste of this plant. We have flowers every year. Even though this plant isn't consumed by the local wildlife, it doesn’t take over your garden either. I can honestly say in the several years we have grown this plant, it has stayed exactly where we planted it. In fact, we were so happy with it, when my daughter asked us to buy a friend for her other Origami Columbine, we bought more of them. We have enjoyed these plants immensely over the years.
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These plants flower late spring into early summer and they enjoy average to rich loose soil. They grow best in full sun to part shade, reaching a height of approximately 15 to 18 inches and it should spread to about 12 to 18 inches.
Bring the whole family to the Windham Garden Club annual plant sale on Saturday May 21st from 9:30-1pm at the Windham Town Hall, come early for the best selection! There will be Oragami Columbine available as well as a host of other varieties that grow well in our climate. Check out the plant list below which shows just some of what we will have for sale!
Also visit our website: windhamgardenclub.com and like us on Facebook!
AQUILEGIA 'Blue Bird' - Songbird Series
ASTER KICKIN® 'Carmine Red'
ASTILBE 'Fanal' (red)
BRUNNERA m. 'Jack Frost' PP13859 CPBR1799
CAMPANULA p. Takion Series - Blue
CLEMATIS r. SERIOUS BLACK™
COREOPSIS 'Red Elf' PPAF - LI'L BANG™ Series
DICENTRA spectabilis
ECHINACEA 'Julia' PP24629
GAILLARDIA a. 'Arizona Apricot'
GERANIUM s. 'New Hampshire Purple'
HEUCHERA DOLCE® BRAZEN RAISIN™
HOSTA 'Blue Mouse Ears'
INCARVILLEA delavayi
LEUCANTHEMUM s. AMAZING DAISIES™
LYCHNIS a. 'Orange Gnome'
MONARDA 'Leading Lady Lilac' PPAF CPBRAF
PAEONIA 'Victoire de la Marne' (dbl red)
PAPAVER o. 'Beauty of Livermore'
PHLOX p. 'Glamour Girl' PP25778 (coral pink)
PHLOX p. 'Shockwave' PP23265 CPBR4949 (Pink)
SALVIA n. COLOR SPIRES® 'Violet Riot' PP26273
SEMPERVIVUM 'Red Beauty
