I'm pretty new to columbines. I just bought a few plants, should I be snipping off the spent flowers (I have been doing this) and when should I stop to get some seed (which I really want)?
Columbine, advice needed
If you want seeds, don't snip the old blooms off. You will have more seeds than you know what to do with!
Deb
Yes, but won't that stop the plant from putting out a lot of flowers? Will snipping off dead ones make a later blooming in fall also?
i have never seen a later bloom in the fall. i normally clip after the flowers fade. have also found that letting the plants self-seed is much easier than collecting seed and sowing myself.
Michelle, here I collect seeds in the fall, but my season is considerably different than yours. In my experience, A. flabellata blooms in spring, then is done, but the A. vulgaris and McKana's tend to bloom all summer. I never deadhead my columbine, but, should you decide to, I'd not deadhead the flabellatas because your window of opportunity for seed collection is quite limited.
I think I'm going to stop dead heading right away! And save up those seeds for some yummy trades.
You'll be pleased with the amount of seeds you'll get, Michelle. They are ready when the head turns brown and opens at the top. The seeds are shiny black and can be harvested just by tipping the seed head into a container. Of course, it also means they are easily sown by nature if you wait too long.
That's more seed than I thought! They won't come true to form... will they?
Weezin', I just wanted to thank you for the great white columbine I got from you last year. It is blooming now with huge flowers. It is very different from any columbine I've ever seen. First of all, the flowers stand about 3' tall, they have no spurs, the flowers are large and are opened much more than my others, and the leaves are huge. It is such a beauty! I hope I get lots of seeds. I'd like to germinate some next to my "puny" regular white and pink, and my purple ones to see what the bees can do to them next year.
And I thought everything grew large in Texas. Nobody ever told me about Alaska!! lol
Columbines Rock! I have a perennial garden bed on the north side of my house, and not one plant had come up in it as of yeserday. This morning I checked, and right in front of a Columbine tag was a couple of tiny little mounds of foliage. It really is spring! Not sure which one it is, forgot to actually look at the tag, I was so excited....
Thanks for the info on seed collecting for Columbines.
Christine
Sorry it took me so long to get back to this thread... Pins, the columbine seed I sent you was from collected seed... I think the white one is a Mrs. Scott Elliot. Michelle, I've had pretty good luck with columbine coming back pretty much like the parent plant, but they will cross-pollinate, so it's aways iffy if you have other columbine in the same bed. Christine, it's so exciting to see those perennials come up in the spring. Columbine are so pretty when the emerge. The first leaves are curled up like little roses.
I planted some a couple years ago... and finally got my first blooms last year! I was enchanted. So I planted a whole bunch this year (McKanna Giants and saved seed from last year), and ordered some more plants from Bluestone! I am just a fool for Columbine this year. I am probably going to have a little bit in almost every bed I have!
Wait, the origional plants will revert back into something else? Or just the seedlings?
I think that columbines have a relatively short life span. Maybe it's just in the south, but I never expect them to live past 2-3 years. It's never a problem because there's alway babies.
Yes, Michelle, your original plant doesn't change, but the offspring may vary, especially if you have several different kinds of columbine in the same area. Columbine are wonderful reseeders, so, as pins mentioned, your original plant may not come back, but the offspring will.
I've read that columbine have a short life span, but it has not been my experience here in our cool climate. Pins is probably right about it being a 'southern' thing. It is my understanding that they die back in the hot weather, returning in the spring. Here they are green all summer. Our temps seldom get above 70F. It may explain why my columbine live to an old age. I have a couple McKana's that are at least 10 years old.
There are so many lovely columbine to chose from. There are the tall ones, the short ones, the intermediate ones. There are the long-spurred, short spurred, spurless. There are singles, there are doubles, there are pleated ones. Most have blue-green leaves, but some have variegated foliage. They come in every color you can imagine. I keep trying to grow them all, but that's next to impossible.
Yeah, I made a HUGE mistake last year. I only had two, and when they died back in the heat I pulled one of them - then left the other alone for seeds. They looked dead as a doornail! Imagine my surprise when the one I did leave came back this spring. I am glad I left the purple and white one!
Yes, I've heard other people say they've done the same thing. One of the things I really love about columbine is their lovely foliage, even when they aren't blooming. I'd be sad to see them die back every summer. I've got a whole hillside full of potted columbine that wintered over (I hope!). It's too early to know how they all did, but I'm eager for the weather to warm up a bit so I can find out. Most of my columbine bloom in the second year.
That is certainly good to know about them dying back in the heat of the summer in the south. At the old house, I thought they had died so didn't bother to dig the roots to my new place.
Anyway, I bought some new ones last fall and they have been doing pretty good.
Next question, especially for the southern gardners: What do you do in the void they leave for the summer?
Molly
:^)))
I haven't really grown them yet, this is the first year, but I have other perennials interplanted with them. They're small when they come up so they don't interfere with the columbine but they get larger once it gets warmer. You could also plant annuals.
I'm also in 7a and mine stay green year round and even grow in the winter. They have tripled their size in 3 years. I love them but wish they had a longer bloom season. I deadheaded the first year but didn't the second year and know I have 2 baby clumps coming up 6 feet away from the parent plants. I give them a large pinch of iron when they kinda yellow sometime during mid summer.
One more pic....hmmm I guess I'll just post it side-ways.
Hee .. I can relate .. Sunshines2day !! .. Mitey purtee Columbines !! .. Really fancy that two-toner!! ...
- Magpye
I see almost all of you, except Michelle, are from either Texas or Florida. Well, let me tell you I am in Washington State and I have a Columbine that is going on 11 years old now and last year it was over 6 feet tall. When it first came up last year in April, it was about a foot tall, my daughter took a piece of hog wire fencing just kind of bowed and about 4 feet long, and laid it over the top of it so the bow was about at the 3 to 4 foot level. The folaige of the plant covered the wire and it held the plant straight up in the air. It was over 6 feet tall when the hard rains came and broke it down right at the wire. I cut all of that off, I had arm loads of it, but it did make a comeback but not like it had been.
Jeanette
Wow- that must be some sort of record- I hope you spread some seeds from it.
Wow! 6 feet tall?!? What color were the flowers? How large are the leaves? This is amazing.
I hope yo took a picture - would love to see it!
Thought I would post a photo of the Columbine that I DIDN'T yank up last year...
Sorry you guys, I didn't do any of that. It was just a common columbine, the maroon and yellow. I really do hope it didn't spread seeds. I never thought to save any. I see it has started a second plant that is about a foot across. I don't know what they are like as to whether I could divide it and send you all some if you wanted. I have the boxes from the post office that costs $3.85 to mail.
I also tried to start some of the new big yellow ones with the real long tail and also the mixed double ones with no tails. Sorry, can't remember the names. I think I got them from Seymour. So far none have come up. I think they have to be kept cold so will try that.
Jeanette
That sounds amazing. I hope mine behave like yours did! Except for the breaking off part...
I still have some wild columbine plants that I traded for last year that have yet to flower. I'm really excited about those! I think they're just as pretty as the cultivers if not more.
Here is a well established columbine that was here when I got the place, so I have no idea how old it is. It's made two babies that are a good size already.
This local wild columbine is spreading like mad. It obviously adores my shade garden. In the woods they are always near rocks.
Now I really like that one. You say it is wild? It doesn't seem to be the big bushy plant like mine is. Are they all this small? It is amazing that it is blooming on such small plants.
Jeanette
Jeanette, I was pleased to read your post concerning the longevity of your columbine. Perhaps the milder climates are easier on these beauties. Are your summers hot? I think boojum's beautiful wild columbine is Aquilegia canadensis. I believe there are forms of it from Canada all the way down into Texas. Our wild columbine, Aquilegia formosa is similar. Have you every grown A. flabellata? They are dwarf, bloom in late spring, and have short stems and blooms that tuck shyly inward. There is blue, pink, or white... really wonderful little fellows.
Yes, aquilegia canadensis is right. It's a delicate beauty although when it's happy it's everywhere! What color(s) is formosa?
That really is beautiful. Love the color. Do you guys know if Columbines have to be stratified? Maybe that is why my seeds aren't germinating? They were expensive so I can't experiment too much.
Don't know why mine lasts so long. We have about a month of pretty hot weather in the summer and it does get cold some winters. We usually only have a short time below zero. But some summers get close to 100 for a bit. Maybe this is just a hardy strain.
Guess this year I will take some pictures and maybe save some seed.
Jeanette
I chilled my seeds in a flat in the garage (easy to do in MN - but you can put them in the fridge) for a week, and I got decent germination - about 80% of my cells are filled, and I put a couple seeds in each one. I am starting McKana Giants and Origami descendents (from the photo I posted above).
I heard you can also refrigerate the seed for a week or so, but I haven't tried that.