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Resources < Wildlife Habitats < Guide to Native Plants of Georgia for Wildlife < Aquilegia canadensis
Columbine is an essential plant for the pollinator garden; the spring blooms attract early butterflies and migrating ruby-throats. It has great aesthetic appeal, too. Each nodding flower is wonderfully intricate and complicated, with five yellow petals, five red spurs, five red sepals, and numerous long yellow stamens. Delicate and fancy, the gray-green leaves are almost fernlike.
Columbine likes a little lime, so it will do very well next to a cement sidewalk or foundation. It looks lovely tucked amid limestone rocks around a pond. Reseeding readily, columbine will eagerly spread itself around your semi-shaded, well-drained garden. Don’t panic if it suddenly disappears when the hot days of summer come; it will reappear once temperatures cool.
Ranunculaceae (Buttercup Family)
Herbaceous perennial with gray-green compound leaves divided into 3 toothed leaflets. Long petioles attach the leaves to the stems. One-inch red and yellow flowers are effective for about six weeks in spring, with tan, dry fruits following.
1 to 3 feet high and about a foot wide.
Erect.
Fast. Readily self-sows.
Full sun to part shade. Light shade is best.
Plant in well-drained soil. Mildew can be a problem, so make sure your plants have good air circulation. Columbine is also prone to leafminer infestation, but this really isn’t a big deal. Leafminers don’t affect plants’ overall health; they just make harmless little trails through their leaves.
Assets include red and yellow spring flowers and airy, fine-textured foliage.
Columbine looks great planted in drifts in the woodland garden or tucked into the nooks and crannies of a rock wall.
Flowers provide nectar for ruby-throated hummingbirds. Finches eat the seeds.
Found in dry, rocky woods throughout Georgia, often in calcareous soil.
Seed, division.
Also known as American Columbine, Canada Columbine, Eastern Columbine, Meetinghouses, Rock Bells, Honeysuckle, Rock Lily, Cluckies, Jack-in-Trousers, Wild Honeysuckle, Granny's Bonnets, Dancing Fairies
Photograph and text by Leslie Kimel, Georgia Wildlife Federation
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Wild Columbine
