Semiaquilegia Ecalcarata

This delightful and graceful plant forms a mound or tuft of finely divided, ferny-looking leaves, bearing upright stems with graceful nodding flowers in shades of deep violet to wine purple during late spring and early summer. A rare plant, native to open woodlands in China, it is a very close cousin to the normal aquilegias differing in that the flowers lack the usual spurs at the back. This is a superb plant for edging, in the rock garden or bright woodland.