Native Plant | Eastern red columbine, easy to grow and a magnet for hummingbirds

Editor's note: Once a month, the OSU Extension master gardener's office of Franklin County profiles a plant that occurs naturally in central Ohio.

Looking for an easy-to-grow, spring-flowering plant to add movement and color to your home garden? Eastern red columbine fits the bill. It’s native most everywhere east of the Rockies, attracts hummingbirds and is usually left alone by rabbits and deer. It’s also an old-fashioned garden plant that has received the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit.

Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis) blooms in mid-spring. The drooping, bell-like red and yellow flowers have five distinctive red spurs that contain nectar. The attractive, delicate foliage can grow 1 to 3 feet in height, topped by a cloud of showy blossoms on larger plants.

Eastern red columbine prefers some shade but can grow in full sun as long as the roots stay cool and moist. Although columbine is a short-lived plant, lasting only 2 to 4 years, it can self-sow and naturalize to form large colonies, if desired. The seedlings are easily weeded out, if not. Columbine will hybridize with other Aquilegia species, creating new flower colors.  

Columbine is a good choice for rock gardens, woodland gardens and native plant gardens. It combines well with spring bulbs, hostas and astilbe and natives such as trilliums, wild geranium and wild ginger.

Although the foliage is toxic, the flowers are edible. They can be used as a garnish in salads. Or, hold the flower over your tongue and squeeze to extract the nectar.

The crushed seed is said to be pleasantly aromatic and has been used as a perfume. Native American men rubbed the crushed seeds on their hands as a love charm.

The flowers are visited by hummingbirds, bumblebees and hawk moths for the nectar and by other bees for the pollen. Columbine is a host plant for the columbine duskywing butterfly.

Growing conditions

Hardiness zones: 3-8

Sun: full sun to moderate shade

Soil: prefers moist, well-drained soil with pH 6-8; tolerates dry soil

Water: medium

Maintenance: medium

Propagation: Best grown from seed. Sow outdoors in fall in bare areas. The plants bloom in second year. Divide established plants in spring.

Pests and diseases: Columbine has few problems. It is sometimes attacked by leaf miners that leave serpentine trails in the leaves, causing minor cosmetic damage, but this species is much less susceptible to them than other columbine species and hybrids.