Columbine

How to recognise it

Growth habit

Perennial with a clump of leaves about 30 cm tall and branched flowering stems of 40–80 cm.

Leaf

Blue-green, long-stalked and twice divided into three, with rounded, lobed leaflets; greyish beneath.

Flower

Nodding, 3–5 cm, usually violet-blue, sometimes pink or white. The five petals each extend into a spur with a curved hook at the tip. From May to June.

Fruit/seed

Five upright pods that split open at the top; they contain shiny black seeds.

Roots

A sturdy, fleshy taproot, so move plants while they are young.

Confusion with

Garden columbines and hybrids often have straight or very long spurs and all sorts of colours. They cross easily with wild columbine, so seedlings in a garden are rarely purely wild.

Flowering: May–June · Pruning: July

Why grow it?

• Flowers in May–June, bridging the gap between spring and summer flowers.
• Long-tongued bumblebees, such as the garden bumblebee, reach the nectar deep in the spurs.
• Does well in part shade, under shrubs or on a woodland edge.
• Self-seeds and pops up in new places every year.
• A plant with a long cultural history: it appears in many medieval paintings.

Columbine: where does it grow best?

• In the wild: light deciduous woodland, woodland edges, scrub and slopes, especially on chalky soil.
• Part shade is ideal; full sun only if the soil does not dry out.
• Normal, humus-rich, well-drained soil; it likes lime but also grows on neutral soil.
• In the garden: at the edge of a shrub or woodland border, among ferns or in a shady wildlife garden.

Goes well with

• Male-fern: Fine green fronds in the same part shade.
• Foxglove: Tall pink spikes in June, also much visited by bumblebees.
• Sweet woodruff: A white carpet in May in part shade.
• Solomon’s-seal: Arching stems of white bells, flowering at the same time.

Columbine: when and how to plant it?

1. Buy plants or seed of true wild columbine from a native plant nursery and ask for wild origin.
2. Sow fresh seed in July–September in a pot outdoors or where it is to grow: the seed needs a cold period and germinates in spring.
3. Barely cover the seed and leave the pot outdoors in part shade.
4. Plant young plants in spring or September, 30–40 cm apart; older plants move badly because of the taproot.
5. Water after planting, and during dry spells in the first year.
6. Never dig up plants from the wild: wild columbine is rare in Belgium.

Care

Water

Only during dry spells in the first year, and for plants in the sun.

Feeding

Not needed; a little leaf mould in autumn is enough.

Faded flowers

Cut them off if you do not want seedlings, or let a few ripen to renew the plant.

Cutting back leaves

After flowering the leaves often look tatty from powdery mildew or leaf miners. Cut them back in July; fresh new leaves will follow.

Keeping it pure

If garden columbines grow nearby, remove seedlings with different flowers to keep the wild form.

Tip: To keep true wild columbine, do not plant garden columbines nearby: bees cross them, and after a few years you will have mostly hybrids.

Pruning and mowing

Pruning months: July.

When: In July, after the seed has set.

How:

• Let a few seed pods ripen and scatter the seed.
• Then cut the flowering stems and old leaves back to just above the ground.
• Within a few weeks a new, fresh clump of leaves grows that stays attractive into autumn.

Caution: Wear gloves: the plant is poisonous.

Pruning: when and how · Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Seed

Collect ripe seed in July and sow it outdoors straight away; it germinates after the winter.

Self-seeding

Self-seeds readily. Move seedlings while young, in autumn or early spring.

Division

Rarely successful because of the taproot; grow it from seed instead.

Columbine: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy to −30 °C.

• The plant largely dies back in autumn; sometimes a small leaf rosette remains.
• Fully hardy, to about −30 °C.
• Winter cold is needed for the seed to germinate.

Diseases and pests

• Columbine sawfly: Green larvae strip the leaves down to the veins in May–June. From late April, check the undersides of the leaves and pick them off by hand.
• Powdery mildew: White powder on the leaves after flowering. Cut back the leaves; the new ones are healthy.
• Leaf miner: White, winding tunnels in the leaves; harmless. Cut off affected leaves.
• Hybridising: Seedlings often have other colours from crossing with garden columbines. Remove seedlings that look different.

Through the year

• March: New leaves appear. Seedlings come up.
• April: Watch for columbine sawfly larvae. Plant.
• May: Flowering begins.
• June: Full flower: bumblebees on the flowers.
• July: Collect and sow seed. Cut back leaves and stems.
• August: Fresh new leaves.
• September: Move seedlings. Plant.
• November: The plant dies back.

Did you know?

• The name Aquilegia is often explained by the Latin aquila, eagle, because the curved spurs look like talons. The English name columbine comes from columba, dove: the flower resembles a ring of doves.
• Short-tongued bumblebees, such as the buff-tailed bumblebee, often bite a hole in the spur to steal the nectar without pollinating the flower.
• Columbines appear regularly in paintings by the Flemish Primitives, often interpreted as a symbol of the Holy Spirit because of the dove-like flowers.