Last week I saw a one-gallon container of old-fashioned double columbines at my neighborhood big box store. This is a sure sign that columbine—aquilegia to horticulturists—has arrived in a big way. The plants, generally short-lived perennials, have been spring harbingers in the Old and New Worlds for centuries. Now they are suddenly as à la mode as apps, 3-D printers and micro-greens. Everything takes a turn in the fashion spotlight if you wait long enough.
The name “columbine” comes from the Latin word for “dove” and was bestowed on the plants when someone decided that the pendulous flowers resembled groups of doves. I always imagine that the culprit was some long-lost, presbyopic flower lover with a poetic imagination and a stand of white flowered columbine. The Latin species name, Aquilegia, means “eagle-like.” This came from Linnaeus, who saw a resemblance between the petal configuration, which features sharply pointed petal ends, and eagles’ claws. Doves or eagles? You be the judge.
One point upon which everyone agrees—there are no columbines native to South America. The plants are endemic to the northern hemisphere, with species originating here and in Europe. Flower stalks occasionally reach up to three feet tall, but are often shorter. Technically, each flower has five petals, but there is a lot of variation within the genus. Some columbines feature petals that have modified themselves over time into showy long spurs to attract hungry, nectar-seeking hawk moths. Others, like the double-flowered ‘Dorothy Rose,’ look like frilly boudoir lampshades, with heads chock full of densely packed petals. These extravagant varieties, more than other columbine types, have helped earn the nickname, “granny’s bonnets.” Still other types, like the pink and white favorite ‘Nora Barlow,’ feature a crowded array of fringed petals, reminiscent of small dahlias or mums.
Columbines are available in a wide range of colors, from white and palest yellow, through the range of pinks and reds, to blues and blue-purples. Some appear almost black. Varieties like the striking dark purple and white ‘William Guinness,’ are dramatically bi-colored.
I can’t think of columbines without remembering Columbine, a character in traditional comedia dell’arte. Based on Classical models and dating back to at least sixteenth century Italy, comedia dell’arte consists of stock characters appearing in semi-improvisational performances, which are often given on open-air stages. Columbine is a traditional crafty servant, much like the barber Figaro in the opera, The Marriage of Figaro. Yoked in marriage to Pierrot, Columbine is also the mistress of another character, Harlequin. She is generally a busy woman, moving the comedic action forward while fulfilling her servant’s duties, working around the whims of the two men in her life and thwarting the advances of the elderly and ever-lascivious Pantalone. In this respect, she resembles her busy and fecund floral counterparts, who, at the drop of a hat, cross breed with neighboring columbine varieties, producing an endless array of spontaneous columbine hybrids. Coming full circle from the sixteenth century, the twenty-first century Burpee catalog offers an assortment of bi-colored columbines that strut across the horticultural stage under the varietal name, ‘Harlequin.’
Columbines gave a great garden performance every spring, flourishing in semi-shade and consistently moist soil. Allegedly they are unattractive to deer. The leaves are almost as beautiful as the flowers; dark green or blue-green, lobed and fan-shaped, they persist through the growing season. They are occasionally troubled by leaf miners, whose depredations create swirling white lines on the leaf surfaces. It is probably sacrilege to say so, but I find the leaf miners’ trails almost attractive. Leaf miners may cause some leaf drop, but no permanent damage to healthy plants.
The plants fit into all kinds of landscape arrangements, but work especially well in woodland gardens, cutting gardens and pollinator paradises. Native plant enthusiasts can cultivate the North American native, Aquilegia canadensis, which features red and yellow flowers with pronounced spurs. These plants also attract hummingbirds, anxious to sip nectar and pollinate with wild abandon. Other North American native species include the blue-flowered Rocky Mountain columbine—Aquilegia cerulea—and Aquilegia chrysantha, which boasts butter yellow blooms.
Purchase columbines, either as seeds or mature specimens, at local nurseries and garden centers. Plants can also be ordered from White Flower Farm, P.O. Box 50, Route 63, Litchfield, Connecticut 06759; (800)503-9624; www.whiteflowerfarm.com. Free catalog.