BLUE COLUMBINE

Columbines in spring
(Aquilegia vulgaris)

Gatehouse Seeds
USDA Zone 8b
Reefnet Bay Road, Shaw Island, 
 San Juan Archipelago, WA.

 Columbine

Scientifiic name: Aquilegia vulgaris

Type: Herbaceous perennial

USDA Hardiness Zones: 3 to 8

Height 1.5 feet to 3 feet.

Bloom time: April to May
Bloom color: Blue or violet-blue
Sun: Full sun to part shade.
Water: medium
Maintenance: low to medium
Flower: showy.

Attracts: Hummingbirds
Tolerates: Rabbits and usually deer.

Culture: Easily grown in average, medium moist, well-drained soil. Remove flowering stems after bloom to encourage additional blossoms. When foliage depreciates, plants may be cut to the ground. Aquilegia may be easily grown from seed, will naturalize in the garden over time. Seed collected from garden plants might not come true because different varieties of columbine may cross-pollinate in the garden producing seed that is at variance with either or both parents.

Notes: Genus name comes from the Latin word for eagle (aquila) in reference to the talon-like spurs on most flowers. Columbine comes from the Latin word columba meaning dove-like. 

Garden Uses: Borders, rock gardens, cottage gardens, woodlands, or naturalized areas. A good selection for a hummingbird garden. Continue to water plants after bloom to enjoy the ground cover effect of the foliage.

Source of some of these notes: The Missouri Botanical Garden.

There are a few solid white-colored columbine seeds mixed with this lovely blue strain. They are too beautiful to extract from the Gatehouse Garden. You may rogue them out, but they agree with me.

Seeds from a beautiful
bluish-purple shade of

Columbine
(Aquilegia vulgaris) 
while the supply lasts,
with a few white-white columbines 
 mixed in. May these self-seeders
 enjoy life tenancy in your garden and mine.
Packets available at 
Gatehouse Seeds
Reefnet Bay Road, Shaw Island, WA.