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Planting and Growing Columbine Flowers

Image Credit:
Valentin Agapov/Shutterstock
Botanical Name
Aquilegia spp.
Grown as
Perennial
USDA Zones
3a
3b
4a
4b
5a
5b
6a
6b
7a
7b
8a
8b
9a
9b
Toxicity
Toxic
Sun Exposure
Full Sun
Partial Sun
Partial Shade
Water Needs
Moderate
Height
Under 1 foot
Spread
Under 1 foot
Soil pH
Neutral
Bloom Time
Spring
Summer
Flower Color
Blue
Orange
Pink
Red
White
Yellow
Special Features
Container-Friendly
Cut Flower
Low Maintenance
Attracts Butterflies
Attracts Hummingbirds
Attracts Pollinators
Attracts Songbirds
Deer-resistant
Rabbit-resistant
Resilience
Cold Hardy
Plant Type
Flowers
Written By: Catherine Boeckmann Executive Digital Editor and Master Gardener

Have you seen this enchanting wildflower? Columbine (Aquilegia), with its multi-colored petals, blooms from spring through early summer. 

Though this native perennial appears delicate, it’s among the hardiest of native plants and is deer-resistant and pollinator-friendly. Learn all about growing columbine.

Blue Columbine wildflower
Blue Columbine wildflower growing on Aspen, Colorado, forest floor. Credit: Teri Virbickis/Shutterstock

This unusual and breathtakingly beautiful flower displays a small bell-shaped buttercup-like flower with five petals nestled within five long backward-extending spurs. The petals are often bi-colored and may be bright red with pink, lavender, blue, yellow, white, or a combination of these colors! Columbines cross-pollinate easily, so new species form frequently. Their pretty blue-green, lacy foliage stays green long after the blossoms disappear, turning purple or red in the fall.

The flowers attract butterflies, bees, moths, and hummingbirds—but thankfully, not deer! This hardy plant is also quite resilient and drought-tolerant. Once started, columbine propagates for years and, although perennial, increases most rapidly by self-seeding. 

See the video below to view this flower in many shades:

Planting

When to Plant Columbine

  • Direct-sow in the ground in the fall or after last spring’s frost.
  • Alternatively, sow seeds indoors 8 to 10 weeks before the last spring frost. 

Where to Plant Columbine

Columbines grow well in the sun or light shade. Although these plants aren’t picky about soil conditions, they do prefer well-draining soil of average fertility.

How to Plant Columbine

  • Press the seed into the soil, but do not cover it. 
  • Thin to the strongest plants.
  • If setting a mature plant into a container, create a hole twice the diameter of the “old” pot. Set the top of the root ball level with the soil surface. Fill in with soil, then tamp gently and water.
  • Outdoors, space mature plants 1 to 2 feet apart, depending on the mature size of the variety. Water thoroughly.

red and pink columbine flowers

Growing

  • Avoid overwatering.
  • Deadhead faded flowers. New buds will develop along the stems. The bloom season can thus be extended by as long as 6 weeks into midsummer.
  • Allow the plant to self-seed after it blooms, and it will produce many volunteer seedlings in the following year.
  • Columbine dies back all the way to the ground at dormancy. Plants can be cut back hard in the fall to clean up the foliage.
  • Before the ground freezes, mulch to protect the roots.

Harvesting

Cut flowers for indoor arrangements when they are half open. Vase life is 5 to 7 days.

Pests and Problems

Columbine Pests and Diseases
Pest/DiseaseTypeSymptomsControl/Prevention
Leaf minersInsectMeandering blisters in leaves caused by tunneling larvaeRemove infested leaves; weed around plants; use row covers; till soil early in season; rotate plantings
Leaf spot (fungal)FungusLeaf spots on lower leaves enlarge and turn brown/black; fuzzy growth or pustules in lesions; disease progresses upward; leaves dieDestroy infected leaves/severely infected plants (do not compost); remove plant debris regularly; disinfect garden tools; choose resistant varieties; good air circulation; avoid overhead watering
Powdery mildewFungusWhite spots or flour-like coating on upper leaf surfaces; leaves drop; distortion/stuntingDestroy infected parts (do not compost); remove plant debris regularly; resistant varieties; good air circulation/sunlight; spray plants with solution of 1 teaspoon baking soda/1 qt water; prevent plant stress; avoid overhead watering
Root-knot nematodesNematodeRoots “knotty” or galled; plants stunted/yellow/wilted/weakened; leaves and other parts may distort or die; poor floweringDestroy infested plant debris after flowering season, including roots (do not compost); disinfect garden tools; choose resistant varieties; solarize soil; plant French marigolds (Tagetes patula) as a trap crop; rotate plantings
RustFungusOrange pustules on underside of lower leaves/stems; spots on upper leaf surfaces; foliage distorts/dies/drops; stunting; poor flowering; plants weakenedDestroy infected parts/severely diseased plants; remove plant debris regularly; disinfect tools; resistant varieties; good air circulation; avoid overhead watering; weed diligently
Southern blight (white mold)FungusLeaves/stems/entire plants wilt, brown or blacken, and may die; water-soaked lesions on lower stems; crown/bulb/rhizome rot; fluffy, white fungal mats with mustard-seed–like balls on stems’ bases/nearby soilDestroy infected parts/plants, white fungal mats, and surrounding soil to at least 6 inches beyond plant and 8 inches deep; remove plant debris regularly; disinfect garden tools; solarize soil; resistant varieties; provide good drainage

Types

Among the more than 70 species of columbine, these are the favorites to cultivate:

  • Native eastern red columbine (Aquilegia canadensis): pale, pink to blood-red and pink/yellow flowers that point upwards
  • ‘Corbett’: pale yellow flowers; resistant to leaf miners; dwarf variety, 1 to 1-1/2 feet tall
  • ‘Little Lanterns’: red and yellow bell-shaped flowers; resistant to leaf miners; compact, 10 inches tall
  • ‘William Guiness’ European columbine (A. vulgaris): stunning dark purple petals with white on sepals; bushy; 24 to 30 inches tall

The Swan series includes bicolor, midsize (16- to 22-inch) hybrids excellent for cutting when half open …

  • ‘Swan Pink and Yellow’: Soft pink outer petals with pastel yellow inner petals.
  • ‘Swan Red and White’: Red outer petals with white inner petals.

Wit and Wisdom

  • Columbine’s Latin name, Aquilegia, is derived from the Latin word for eagle, aquila. The long spurs that extend behind the flower petals resemble the claws of an eagle. 
  • Native Americans traditionally used the crushed seeds as a love charm and for medicinal purposes.
  • Columbine was named for the Latin word columba, which means dove.
  • There are more than 70 species of columbines, including native columbines that grow wild in mountain areas, along stream beds, and in temperate woodlands. The deep-blue columbines that grow as wildflowers in the Colorado mountains are direct descendants of the earliest columbines.

Flowers

About The Author

Catherine Boeckmann

Catherine Boeckmann

Executive Digital Editor and Master Gardener

Catherine Boeckmann loves nature, stargazing, and gardening so it’s not surprising that she and The Old Farmer’s Almanac found each other. She leads digital content for the Almanac website, and is also a certified master gardener in the state of Indiana.

Read more from Catherine Boeckmann

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Comments

<span>Sharon Browder</span> Sat, 06/04/2022 - 12:54
Columbine is Colorado state's flower. Avery beautiful, delicate blume. This year i chose to plant something that woukd be deer resistant and drought worthy. I planted 16 adult plants in FULL BLOOM costing almost $200. Aling with a few other plants for a big splash of color. But mostly because they are deer resistant. By morning EVERYone of these plants were eaten to the core if the plant. These plants do not flower the entire summer so all I have is nubbs until next year. Please don't believe everything you read.
<span>Norma Cairo</span> Wed, 09/22/2021 - 08:37
How do I order some of these flowers.
<span>Ann</span> Sun, 07/18/2021 - 14:50
I have a large bed of columbines I've had for many years. being in Az. I"ve always watered them thru out the summer, is there a time when I should let them go dormant. We don't have much of a winter, I do cut them back in the fall. presently some have dried up but there are still a lot of green foliage showing and an occasional flower.
<span>Dennis R. Carlson</span> Sat, 06/26/2021 - 19:49
Tina, I think your original (mother) Columbine set seeds and died and the seeds germinated and since Columbine do not bloom until they are two years old you'll have to wait until the seeds are another year old. As for the second question about a yellow Columbine turning yellow - same answer, I think their was a purple seed in the yellow Columbine's soil and when the yellow one died the purple one grow to replace it.
<span>Tina Berkbuegler</span> Fri, 06/25/2021 - 16:07
I have bought two of these in the past and only one came back and bloomed, the first time they bloomed they were big flower blooms, after the first year the blooms were really small, also the other one comes up and does not bloom, and I also have volunteers come up, foliage is good but does not bloom, please help
<span>Don Kuhns</span> Sat, 05/29/2021 - 10:31
i planted a yellow culumbine in 2020 beautiful in 2021 it bloomed but it is purple why?
<span>Gerry</span> Sat, 06/11/2022 - 23:12
Columbines cross pollinate so colors mix