How to Plant, Grow, and Care for Wild Columbine

Wild columbine thrives in zones across North America and is a beautiful accent to shady gardens of any style. With its interesting flowers and lack of serious pests or diseases, it’s an easy pick if you want to add a low-maintenance, high-reward perennial to your garden this season. 

Follow along to learn how to plant, grow, and care for wild columbine. 

What Is It? 

Also known as eastern red columbine, wild columbine is a flowering, branching perennial. It blooms from March to July and goes dormant in late summer, returning in fall. It is part of the Aquilegia genus, which includes 65 species. Aquila is Latin for “eagle”, which may have inspired the genus name. The flower petals resemble the claws of birds of prey.

It grows from Nova Scotia to southeast Florida and into Texas, thriving on slopes, in ravines, streams, river banks, and wooded rocky areas. It often sprouts up in vast areas burned by wildfires. 

While toxic to most herbivores, its nectar is important to the ecosystem as food for various insects and long-tongued pollinators. The flowers are edible for humans.

Appearance

Wild columbine has unique red and yellow, one to two inch, five-petaled, bell-shaped flowers that face downward. The tubular petals transition from yellow to deep red from the rounded tip to the base. The stamen and styles are strong and prominent, each featuring a yellow rounded tip resembling tassels. Pollinators, especially bees and hummingbirds, feed on its nectar. 

The hermaphroditic plant’s reddish green stem grows partially underground and is one to three feet tall and about 18 inches wide when mature. Branching occurs on the upper part of the erect plant. Mature compound leaves are two inches wide and three inches long, blue-green, and grow in groups of three leaflets. 

After the flowers wither, pod-shaped follicles form in their place, which contain tiny black seeds.

Cultivation and Brief History 

The genus Aquilera is believed to have arrived in North America during the Pleistocene, sometime between 10,000 and 40,000 years ago. Unglaciated land connections between Alaska and the Yukon allowed plants and animals to travel freely between the continents. DNA analysis of Aquilegia shows that two species from Eastern Europe and one from Central Asia are ancestors of all species that have since evolved. 

Wild columbine has been cultivated since the mid-1600s and it’s believed present-day small flower columbine (Aquilegia brevistyla) is the founder of all the others that exist today. 

How to Grow

Wild columbine is easy to grow and a low-maintenance landscape option. 

Sunlight Requirements 

Plants should receive dappled sun to partial shade. Afternoon shade is appreciated in especially hot and dry climates. Foliage can become burned from too much sun, and plants may go dormant if temperatures are too high, returning in fall. 

Water Requirements 

Young plants should be watered one inch weekly until they’re established. The soil should not become soggy. Mature plants are drought-tolerant. Avoid leaving foliage wet to decrease the risk of fungal diseases.

Soil Requirements 

Well-draining is a top priority, and low to moderate richness is best. Rich soil may cause weak stems and a shorter lifespan. The preferred type is sandy, sandy loam, or medium loamy. The pH should be between 6.8 and 7.2. 

Mulch

Mulching young transplants will help suppress weeds, retain moisture, and cool the soil in warmer regions. Add a layer around the root system to new plants and emerging seedlings in spring. No extra mulch must be applied to protect it over the winter as it’s very tolerant of cold. 

Temperature and Humidity 

Plants are both heat and cold-tolerant and can adapt to many climates except year-round excessive heat. Blooms occur in spring and fall when temperatures are cooler. Some cultivars are hardy to -30°F (-34°C) and will suffer in temperatures above 110°F (43°C). 

Fertilizing is unnecessary, but adding some organic matter to the area before transplanting will be appreciated. A balanced, liquid fertilizer can be added to containers as new growth energy in spring. 

Pruning

Cut back to basal leaves, about half their height, after the plant’s first bloom to encourage a possible second flush in fall. Leaves will remain semi-evergreen for the summer. Consistent deadheading will send energy back into the root system and deter self-seeding. 

Propagation 

Propagation doesn’t happen vegetatively. New plants must come from seed or division of rootstocks. Buy nursery-propagated, instead of wild-collected plants to ensure they are high-quality and disease-free. 

Starting From Seed

Provide seeds with a cold, moist stratification for six to eight weeks by placing them in a moist paper towel or with some sand and placing them in the refrigerator. Sow indoors eight to ten weeks before the last frost or sprinkle them in a prepared garden bed outdoors in early spring.

When sown outdoors, the seeds will receive a natural cold stratification. Light aids in germination, so barely cover seeds and keep the soil moist. 

Germination can take up to four weeks. Transplant seedlings into larger containers when they have one set of true leaves. 

Self-Seeding

Plants will readily self-seed. New seedlings will emerge in spring. They’ll produce basal leaves in year one, blooming in their second year. 

Splitting Rootstock

Wild columbine can be split in spring when its dormant to keep the spread under control and to create new plants. Doing so every few years keeps it healthy. Dig up the rootstock and divide the roots. Then transplant your divisions into new areas of the garden.

Planting 

This wildflower doesn’t love having its roots disturbed, so as long as conditions outside are ideal, transplanting seedlings when they’re smaller is better to avoid transplant shock. 

Spacing

Give plants 10-15 inches of space between. If direct seeding, surround the area with annuals as your plants get established, which may take up to three years. 

Transplanting

Transplant seedlings and bare roots in early spring or fall once daytime temperatures are consistently above 50°F (10°C) and properly hardened off. Organic matter may be added to a weed-free, loose, well-draining area.

Plants can withstand a sunny position if you live in a cooler climate. Some growers have had success growing wild columbine in containers. 

Remove the plant from its container gently and keep as much of the root ball intact as possible. Dig a hole, drop it in, and surround it with native soil, gently tamping it down. Water it well, and don’t allow the soil to dry out as the plant establishes itself during the first year. 

Popular Cultivars

Eastern red columbine easily hybridizes with other species. Here are a few you can cultivate at home and potentially create your own hybrids in the process.

‘Corbett’

This dwarf columbine grows to one to two feet and has showy, pale yellow flowers. ‘Corbett’ is believed to have good leaf miner resistance and prefers cool nights to heat, unlike some other cultivars. 

‘Little Lanterns’

Topping out at 10-12 inches, ‘Little Lanterns’ flowers are red and yellow like the species, with a bit less boldness and vigorous foliage. 

‘Canyon Vista’

A prolific bloomer, this cultivar features bold orangish-red and yellow blooms with the standard blue-green foliage. It grows up to 15 inches tall.

Design Ideas

Plant annuals around newly seeded or young wild columbine to fill in the space while they establish. Once plants are mature, surround them with black-eyed Susans, milkweed, and pollinator patches of wildflowers.

This flower is perfect in areas with poor, sloped, or rocky soil, added to pollinator, rock, rain, and cottage gardens. It looks best in clumps of three or five and makes an excellent border plant. 

Medicinal Uses 

Native North Americans use crushed wild columbine seeds to remedy headaches and various plant parts to treat heart conditions, poison ivy, and fever. Aromatic seeds can be crushed and used as perfume. Caution should be taken as the Ranunculaceae contains toxic plants that wild columbine could be mistaken for. 

Complementary Pairings

Early bloomers like flowering phlox, wild ginger, ferns, and campanula pair well with wild columbine. Plant it near American Beautyberry or Witch Hazel, as they share similar sun requirements. 

Common Problems

This perennial is low-maintenance, but there are a few possible issues to be aware of. 

Pests

Wild columbine leaves are the sole food source for the columbine duskywing (Erynnis lucilius) caterpillar, which is dark brown to almost black, with a black head. They can do quite a bit of damage by defoliating your plants but are important native prey in the local ecosystem. 

The butterfly looks more like a dark brown and black mottled moth, part of the “skipper” family due to its erratic flight pattern. Eggs are laid on the underside of leaves from April to June and July to September. 

Leafminers may cause cosmetic damage but don’t typically negatively affect the overall health of the plant. They’ll leave white trail marks on leaves in their wake as they mine through leaf tissue. The columbine sawfly (Pristiphora rufipes) is attracted more to hybrids, so wild columbine is generally safe. It looks similar to a small, waistless wasp, about ¼ inch long.

Neem oil and beneficial nematodes can control columbine aphids and borer. Wild columbine is toxic to most herbivores and isn’t bothered by deer or rabbits. 

Diseases

Proper sanitation can help control diseases caused by fungi like gray mold, powdery mildew, and wilt, while some are spread and exacerbated by cool, humid weather. Remove dead leaves, spent flowers, and infected plants from the garden and use fungicides if you notice symptoms, as indicated on the label. 

Use only reputable sources for seeds and plants. Check for signs of yellowing, wilting, stem rot, or sclerotia before planting. 

Frequently Asked Questions