Under the Bonnet

Yet another day when blip has led me to discover my own misconception. For as long as I remember, I have used the word 'columbine' to refer to the pernicious (but rather pretty) weed that is usually called 'bindweed', botanical name Convolvulus. Silly me - after following web sites round in circles, I now know better. It is odd, though, that when I searched for 'columbine weed' several of the results I got were about controlling bindweed (though they did not actually refer to columbine, if you looked at them). Is 'bin' enough to do that or are there other people as confused as me? Only the algorithm knows

This cottage garden standard we just know as Aquilegia - which is indeed its true botanical name - though we also have a friend who calls it 'Granny's bonnets'. Many web sites, however, refer to it as 'columbine' (or dark columbine or Bulgarian columbine), which is what alerted me to my long-standing error. I have never heard anyone use that name for this plant (but I'll bet it happens now - that's how life works) 

Aquilegia seems to be a complicated genus with lots of species names, many of which are synonyms for one another, and lots of varietal names within the species. I gave up trying to make sense of it. Its origins seem to lie in eastern Europe, particularly mountainous regions, including Ukraine

I found it has bird associations: 'Aquila' in its name comes from Latin for eagle - internal parts of the flower are hooked like eagles' talons. Columba, meanwhile, is Latin for dove - the upturned flower supposedly looks like a circle of five doves. Symbols of power and strength, and of peace, combined in a single flower. All things that Ukraine could do with