This perennial dies back to below ground level each year in autumn, then fresh new growth appears again in spring.

• Position: full sun or partial shade
• Soil: fertile, moist, well-drained soil
• Rate of growth: average to fast
• Hardiness: fully hardy
  
  A contrasting wild columbine with nodding maroon-red skirted and primrose-yellow centred flowers originating from Mount Konsai in Japan. A hardy, upright, and clump-forming perennial, Aquilegia oxysepala is well suited to colder conditions where its finely divided green leaves and slender, upright stems will reliably herald warmer summer weather to come.
  
  
• Growing instructions: In autumn, surface-sow on moist compost in small pots or seed trays and keep them in a greenhouse or cold frame at 15 to 20°C. Germination can be slow (up to 3 months) but seedlings should be thinned out as they grow on and over-wintered under glass before planting out after hardening off in spring. Alternatively, spring sowing can be undertaken as before, often without the need for heat.
  
  
• Sow: March to June or September to October
  
  
• Flowering: May to June