Aquilegia vulgaris – Columbine

This fairly tall plant (up to 1m) has purplish blue flowers made up of five petals with hooked spurs. Flowering takes place from May to July. It is almost identical to the garden varieties which frequently escape into the wild. The bright green leaves are made up of three leaflets and are borne on separate stems to the flowers.

Type	Seeds per gram	Origin	Ordering
Grassland Perennial	700	Somerset	Order this species

Habitat Information

Columbine is a medium to tall, long lived native perennial found on a range of damp calcareous soils including cliffs, meadows and wasteland but is most commonly associated with woodland glades and rides. Colonization of the wild by garden plants is common and has obscured both the population trends and distribution of the native plant.

Growing Information

The seed requires a period of chilling before germinating so it should be sown in late summer or autumn. If sown in a seed tray and then planted out Columbine can tolerate a wide range of soil types and conditions but if it is to persist for more than one generation or if you are going to sow directly onto the soil then it will probably do best on sites that are moist, calcareous and in partial shade.