Plant Taxonomy of Columbine Flowers:
Plant taxonomy classifies columbine flowers, in general, as
Aquilegia. For instance,
Aquilegia canadensis is the red columbine.
Plant Type for Columbine Flowers:
Characteristics of Columbine Flowers:
Columbine flowers come in many colors; some are even bi-colored. Columbines can have red, yellow, white, blue, pink or
purple flowers. Columbine flowers are airy plants with attractive foliage (clover-like when young), reaching ca. 2 feet in height (taller when in full bloom). Columbine plants bloom in late spring to early summer and self-seed readily if you don't deadhead (see below under Care).
Planting Zones for Columbine Flowers:
Grow columbine flowers in
planting zones 3-9. There are columbine flowers native to many lands.
Aquilegia canadensis, for instance,
indigenous to the woods of eastern North America, is a wildflower often remarked upon by hikers for its bluish-green foliage.
Sun and Soil Requirements for Columbine Flowers:
There are plenty of exceptions, but "partial shade" is the standard recommendation for columbine plants. Grow columbine flowers in a well-drained soil. Often dwelling on rocky ledges in the wild, the drought resistance displayed by such columbine flowers as
Aquilegia canadensis make them good candidates for
xeriscaping.
Outstanding Characteristic of Columbine Flowers:
As stated above, columbine flowers come in a number of colors. But of equal value is the exquisite shape of columbine flowers. Besides their trademark "spurs" and often showy stamens, columbine flowers nod, and their centers sometimes take on a honeycomb look (for an example of which, click the picture, above right, to access the mini-photo gallery).
Uses for Columbine Flowers:
Once established, columbine flowers are drought tolerant. This makes columbine plants perfect for rock gardens or woodland gardens. Their attractive foliage suits them to use in perennial borders.
Columbine flowers are said to resemble jester's caps, and their effectiveness at attracting hummingbirds will certainly put bird watchers in a merry mood.
Problems for Columbine Flowers:
The leaves of columbine plants often bear the "doodling" of leaf miners, but the damage usually isn't serious and gives the foliage a sort of randomly "variegated" look that I rather like.
Care for Columbine Flowers:
Care for columbine plants largely comes down to the question, "To
deadhead or not to deadhead?" If you don't deadhead, the resulting seed production will sap the strength of your columbine plants, and they will decline and die out in about 3 years. But here's the tradeoff: columbine flowers are prolific re-seeders, so not deadheading will result in plenty of replacements.
Origin of the Names, "Aquilegia," "Columbine":
The scientific name, Aquilegia (the genus name) derives from the Latin word for eagle, Aquila. Just look at columbine flowers close up and you may understand this word origin: their spur-like appendages can remind one of the outstretched talons of an eagle or hawk.
The hawkish origin of the scientific name is, however, somewhat at odds with the derivation of "columbine" (from the Latin, columba), which refers to doves. Apparently, some find a resemblance in the inverted columbine flower to five doves nestled together. For what it's worth, columbine flowers look more aquiline than dovish, to me.
