Red Columbine
Aquilegia canadensisRed Columbine is a perennial native to the Texas Hill Country that grows 1–2 ft tall and 1–2 ft wide. It wants full sun or part shade and medium water, and handles caliche soil. Blooms red, pink and yellow in Feb–Jul. Good for birds, butterflies and hummingbirds.
Will it grow in your yard?
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From our guide
Village of the HillsDelicate perennial with nodding red-and-yellow flowers on wiry stems in early spring.
Why it works here
One of the earliest hummingbird flowers, and it blooms in shade where color is hard to get.
Watch out
Goes dormant in summer heat. Leaf miners disfigure the foliage — cosmetic, not fatal.
The facts
8 sources- Type
- Perennial
- Sun
- Full sun to part shade (3+ hrs)
- Water
- Medium
- Height
- 1–2 ft
- Spread
- 1–2 ft
- Bloom
- Feb–Jul · red, pink, yellow
- Foliage
- Semi-evergreen
- Soil
- Takes caliche · recorded on calcareous, limestone, loam, moist, sand, well drained
- Deer
- Low — deer eat it; cage or plant where they cannot reach. Browsed
- Wildlife
- Supports birds, butterflies and hummingbirds
Where it grows
Recorded in these EPA Level IV ecoregions in the Austin and Hill Country launch area:
325 occurrence records in Central Texas (GBIF).
Can you buy it?
In the Village of the Hills guide, but not on the grower stock lists we read yet. Ask a native-plant nursery.
also grows from seed It starts readily from seed, so a packet from a native-seed supplier, or seed collected with permission, is often the easiest way to get a plant no nursery pots.