Aquilegia canadensis - Wild Columbine - 3" Pot

Wild columbine is a spring-blooming perennial that is undeniably attractive from its foliage to its flowers. This species can tolerate a huge range of conditions, though its prefers a little shade and soils that are not too rich. In full sun and rich garden soil it tends to be burnt, stunted, leggy, and shorter-lived, while in part shade and poorer, more well drained soils, it tends to be more compact and longer-lived. In ideal conditions wild columbine can readily seed itself, producing shiny black seeds that bounce on the ground to aid in their distribution. It can sometimes form dense colonies.

It is deer resistant and can be planted underneath pines. Its rue-like foliage and ornate flowers make it a gorgeous addition to rock gardens, shade gardens, cottage-style gardens, and natural plantings. The roughly bell-shaped red and yellow flowers are where the genus name Aquilegia is derived from: some believe that the long spurs on the backs of the flowers resemble eagle talons. Eagle is aquila in Latin.

These iconic flowers are very attractive to hummingbirds, long-tounged bees, and butterflies. Wild columbine is a larval host species for the columbine duskywing and the pink-tinted beauty, and it provides food for birds such as finches and buntings.