Columbines: Part One

As perennial garden plants go, I think the columbine is not only misunderstood but sadly under-used.

A few of the inaccuracies I’ve come across: One article I read about the columbines several years ago called them “long-lived perennials.” Generally, they are not. A gardener I queried about them said there were so many insect problems with them that he wouldn’t use them in his garden. There aren’t.

I was smitten with columbines more than 30 years ago but I was damned if I was going to pay top dollar for a short-lived perennial that I could grow from seed. But I couldn’t, at least not at first, and I’ll describe why later. So I and was relegated to buying these lovely plants in pots at garden centers.

In fact, columbines are easy to grow. And if you spend four or five dollars you can get seed, which in a year will produce plants that you’d have paid several hundreds of dollars for at the garden center. Furthermore, the shorter columbines can be grown in rock gardens and the taller types can be grown in woodland gardens, borders and cutting gardens. They just need moderate shade to full sun, though in full sun the plants seem to last only a year or two.

Columbines come in single colors and bi-color versions as well as small-flowered, fancy-flowered, frilled, double- and large-flowered varieties. They can come with and without distinctive “spurs” that can be as long as 2 inches, trailing to the rear of the flower.

There is only one insect problem and you simply learn to live with it—leaf miners. As a plus, the plants produce so much seed that in a few short years you could sow a woods full of columbines (as long as you learn the trick to growing them). But there is a downside as well.

Don’t trust these frisky plants. They love procreating and their offspring are notorious for not being true to color or variety. Also keep in mind that because of their prowess in reproducing and the fact that the hybrids will not reproduce true from seed, stands of hybrids should be planted away from plantings of the species. And when planting where a color scheme is critical, new seedlings should be culled to reduce the chances of interlopers.

Columbines prefer to grow in a slightly shaded spot with moist organic soils. This makes them perfect for the woodland garden, but the scope of conditions that these plants can grow in is limited only by the number of varieties you are willing to grow.

I’ve had great success with some in full sun, though this seems to shorten their lifespan substantially. For the most part, I grow the columbines at the edge of the woods, at wooded overhangs, or woodlands where they can be seen as you pass them.

Their colors and shapes are generally not so striking that they become specimen plants. More likely, they are planted in groups or drifts where they can be combined for a greater effect.

The young plants initially form loose rosettes of foliage that develop to a large clump during their first year and may overwinter as a small, tight cluster of foliage through the winter. Early the following spring, the cluster enlarges through March and April and then the flower spikes shoot up from the crown and flower in about two weeks—blooming from May through June—and can last for two weeks or longer.

Seed held in a refrigerator then sown in early spring will often germinate in May, develop a crown during the summer then flower the following year, which is a season earlier than fall or late summer sown seed.

The columbine flower has five petal-like sepals, which alternate with five tubular petals that form spurs or nectarines (and yes, they do attract hummingbirds). Each petal opens above the sepal into a funnel-shaped mouth.

There is a cluster of stamens in each flower and at the center there are five pistils. These mature into a dried fruit called follicles.

In some species of

aquilegia,

the flowers are nodding, with the tips of the spurs directed upward. In others, the flowers are erect, with the tips of the spurs pointed to the ground.

When the flowers mature, the resulting seed capsule will be bright green. Over a period of 10 days to several weeks this capsule will begin to change color and brown. As the browning continues, the tip of the capsule will begin to swell, dry and open.

At this point the seed is ripe and ready for harvest. Simply remove the capsule with scissors, turn it upside-down on a sheet of white paper and shake the seeds out. One capsule can contain 50 or more seeds. If you don’t cut the capsule and harvest the seed, one good gust of wind will shake them free and they’ll fall to the ground below.

Next week, we’ll talk about the trick in getting columbine seed to germinate and you too will see the light. In the meantime, you may find some seed at local garden centers and any day now the same garden centers will be offering columbine plants in pots from 4 inches up to gallon sizes.

The smaller plants may not be flowering size but they will be much less expensive than the larger plants that you’ll find in full flower toward mid-month. Don’t feed the plants when you install them, though a watering with a bio-stimulant will encourage the roots to grow. Give the plants a good watering once or twice a week and make sure there’s plenty of organic matter in and around the planting hole to hold the moisture and provide some nutrition.

Columbines generally don’t need to be fertilized but if you must, use an organic fertilizer sparingly. Too much nitrogen will result in tall and floppy plants. A manure tea or fish emulsion-based fertilizer will be just right.

As always, keep growing.