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Columbines are one of the best known and popular perennials. They are the early plants that welcome us to spring and the new gardening season. Its unique form and many options for a rainbow of colors make it a plant that can greatly enhance your landscape.
Columbines are native to Illinois and most of North America. With 70 different species, these perennials can be found growing naturally in meadows, woodlands and mountain areas.
The native columbine in our area is red and yellow in color and is referred to as wild columbine. However, columbines have been hybridized to now present in a variety of bloom colors from delicately colored pastels to bright, solid colors including blue, purple, yellow, red, burgundy and white. With cooler temperatures, columbines can be enjoyed in your garden from three to six weeks. When flowers fade, blue-green foliage takes over. Some hybrids are even offering lime and yellow foliage that can light up a shady garden setting.
The special design of the columbine flower head is one of its most charming assets. The upward turning head of the flower has five petals that open to a shallow, trumpet shape. What is most unusual is that each petal then curves outward producing a long, sharply pointed decorative spur. This truly unique formation of the spur sets columbine apart from other plants with a traditional flower structure.
When happy in its environment, a columbine should live three to four years. Columbines are natural hybridizers and reproduce mainly by seed. With the exception of a few varieties, the result of this evidently abundant and indiscriminate seeding will end up with a cross with some of the nearby plants thanks to the visits of your local hummingbird. The alternative to this form of seeding is to remove the seed heads before the plant releases them.
Columbines are easy care plants needing only rich, well-drained soil in either a shade or part sun location. I have raised columbines in both of these exposures, and they do equally well. Their native background aids in their deer and rabbit resistance. Their only problem is the leaf miner insect that creates tiny tunnels through the leaves. This is a cosmetic problem, doesn’t injure the plant and will disappear as the plant is cut back to the new leaves following bloom.
Columbines grow in a variety of sizes from 10-inch dwarf plants to 3-foot natives and native hybrids that can reach 3 feet tall. Some of the dwarf varieties to consider are red and yellow Little Lanterns, 6 to 12 inches, and the Biedermeir series, 9 to 12 inches. For bold and beautiful, the larger, colorful McKana Giants are recommended.
In order to get columbines to produce true to color (no crosses) from seed, you will need to look to some of the older varieties. Nora Barlow is a very attractive, double, multilayered columbine that grow on a sturdy, bushy plant producing pastel pink and white blooms. Going back even further, a couple of “oldies but goodies” are Black Barlow and Granny’s Bonnet. There is no shortage of choices for your consideration in the columbine family.
Columbines are a pleasure to grow as they burst forth with spring color for gardeners to enjoy. The added bonus is that these bright colored, nectar producing plants are also bringing wildlife to your garden in the form of hummingbirds, bees and butterflies as they discover that you have planted a rainbow of colorful columbines.
• The Master Gardener Help Desk, located in the Farm Bureau building at 1350 W. Prairie Drive in Sycamore, is open from 9 a.m. to noon Monday through Friday. Gardeners with questions can walk in, email uiemg-dekalb@illinois.edu or call 815-758-8194.