Wildflower Wednesday: Eastern Red Columbine

Eastern red columbine has bloomed just in time for migrating Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds and that's no coincidence. Hummingbirds and certain flowers have co-adapted over millions of years to form a mutually beneficial relationship. Hummingbirds migrate thousands of miles annually and they're movement north typically coincides with the blooming of these preferred flowers. Eastern red columbine (trumpet honeysuckles, too) hold more nectar than other flowers and are irresistible to hummingbirds. Their co-adapted/mutually beneficial relationship is pretty cool. The long bill and tongue of these hummers fits into the throat of their preferred flowers to easily reach the nectar, and while feeding, grains of pollen spill onto the head of the bird and is carried to other columbines insuring pollination.

The bumblebee is another important pollinator and collects nectar and pollen for their larvae.  Some of our larger queen bumblebees, which are also active in early spring, have proboscises long enough to reach the nectar; others “cheat” (Eastern carpenter bees are known nectar robbers)  by tearing holes in the spurs to steal nectar without performing pollination services.

The co-adaption dance is marvelous and it's happening in gardens all over the Eastern United States.
If I ever capture a photo, I will be eternally appreciative.

red sepals, yellow-limbed petals, 5 distinctive red spurs and a mass of bushy yellow stamens

I love the unique and beautiful flowers of columbines. The flower is approximately 1.5 to 2 inches long and hangs downward from its stalk. Each flower has five petals, five petal-like sepals and strongly exerted stamens and styles. The petals are yellow at the rounded tip and red to purplish-red at the base of its rounded nectar-spur.

Wild columbines will hybridize with other columbines and you can have a variety of colors from the cross pollination. I only grow Aquilegia canadensis, so I haven't seen this, but, a friend had the cutest delicate pink columbine that she said was a natural cross.

Have you had this happen in your garden? It might be fun to cross pollinate them.

 Aquilegia canadensis is commonly known as wild columbine or eastern red columbine. It occurs naturally in rich rocky woods, north-facing slopes, cliffs, ledges, pastures, bogs, fens and roadside banks. It is very happy in our gardens and asks only for good drainage to survive wet winters.

growing in cracks in stone steps

Erosion is an issue in my sloping garden with its heavy winter rains and I am always tickled to see where columbine seeds germinate. I've scattered seeds for years and the rain must wash the seeds into the rock edges of my beds, because this is where they always seem happiest. They also pop up in every crack and crevice as seen in the above photo.

I've read that you can deadhead the plant for more blooms, but, I have never had much success with that. I let them go to seed, because I love free plants and I think the seedheads are equally delightful! You'll know they are ripe when the it splits open and shiny black pearls spill out. Collect and plant them where ever you want more lanterns to light up your garden.

Eastern  red columbine's bloom period overlaps with Golden ragwort and Phlox pilosa and I dubbed them the Happy Trinity of Clay and Limestone. In my metaphorical mindset, the trio is like a Mirepoix (cuisine)/holy trinity of ingredients and spices that when mixed together make the gardens colorful and tasty each spring. They are the garden's Spring flavor base and it gets even more delicious as Spring progresses. (Happy Flower Trinity)

 I love the way columbine intermingles with the pinks and purples throughout my garden, not to all tastes, but a delicious presentation none the less. With any successful garden recipe there are always plants that provide additional flavor and I will tweak the recipe a little each year, adding new ingredients, adjusting others. It's important to experiment and see what tasty combinations you can create.

I see a few spots that need some eastern red columbine...hoping it will be delicious next spring.
xoxogail

The Particulars

Botanical name: Aquilegia canadensis
Common Name: wild columbine or Eastern red columbine
Family: Ranunculaceae
Native Range: Eastern North America
Zone: 3 to 8
Height: 2.00 to 3.00 feet Spread: 1.00 to 1.50 feet
Bloom Time: April to May
Bloom Description: Light pink/yellow to blood red/yellow
Flower: Showy, Good Cut flower
Sun: Full sun to part shade
Water: Medium
Maintenance: Medium
Attracts: Bumblebees and the Ruby-Throated Hummingbird visit the flowers for nectar; bumblebees may also collect pollen for their larvae. Short-tongued Halictid bees collect pollen from the flowers, but they are less effective at cross-pollination. The larvae of various insects feed on Wild Columbine, including those of Erynnis lucilius (Columbine Duskywing), Papaipema leucostigma (Borer Moth sp.), Pristophora aquiligae (Columbine Sawfly), and several Phytomyza spp. (Leaf Miner Flies).(source)

giant leopard moth or eyed tiger moth (Hypercompe scribonia)

Tolerate: Rabbit, Deer, Drought, Dry Soil Garden locations
Comments: Foliage is toxic and it is little bothered by mammalian herbivores. Excellent garden plant, good in shade gardens, rock gardens, cottage gardens or naturalized areas. The light, airy texture of the stems and flowers combines well with a variety of early bloomers such as Wild Geranium, Foamflower, and Wild Ginger.

Welcome to Clay and Limestone and Wildflower Wednesday.  Thank you all for joining me as we celebrate and share our marvelous and beautiful wildflowers. I hope 2020 is the year we all plant more native wildflowers for the many critters that live in and visit our gardens. Let's be sure we celebrate them every day, not just WW. Remember, it doesn't matter if they are in bloom or not, you can still share them. Please leave a comment and add your name to Mr Linky so others can pop over to see your Wildflower Wednesday post.



Gail Eichelberger is a gardener and therapist in Middle Tennessee. She loves wildflowers and native plants and thoroughly enjoys writing about the ones she grows at Clay and Limestone. She reminds all that the words and images are the property of the author and cannot be used without written permission.

It's Rough and Tumble Wildflower Time

Symphyotrichum novae-angliae 'Pink' formerly known as an  Aster

I love Spring and its gentle pinks and blues, but, give me this time of year with the intense yellow of goldenrod,  the brilliant pinks of ex-asters and the lilac-blues of mistflower  against the  Autumn blue sky.

Spiders are probably  laying  in wait for unsuspecting visitors.

These late summer blooms with their intense, rich colors are a treat for the senses.

But, they are so much more than pretty faces.  Each one of these darlings provides more pollen and nectar  return on investment than many other flowers combined.  My rough and tumble native  asteraceae are landing pads of deliciousness for butterflies, bees, wasps and moths.

There's that crab spider with its unsuspecting victim

 They're magnets for all kinds of insects; including some that are themselves food for  spiders, birds and other insect eating critters. It's a bug eat bug world in a garden.

Eupatorium coelestinum landing pads of deliciousness for visiting critters

 These beauties  are nectar and pollen sources for late visiting bees and butterflies, but also are known host plants for many moths and butterflies.   The caterpillars of  Pearl Crescent and checkerspot butterflies feed on Symphyotrichum novae-angliae; about ten different  moths and butterflies  rely on the foliage of Goldenrod; although, Mistflower is primarily a nectar source~it's foliage is eaten by several moth and butterfly cats.

Goldenrod  even provides shelter for the curious little Goldenrod Gall Fly that makes  this gall its home.

My love affair with native plants has been going on for so long that they seem more beautiful to me then many classic garden flowers. I love these rough and tumble, take care of themselves wildflowers. Part of their charm is their  good wildlife value.  But, their larger charm is that they are absolutely perfect for Clay and Limestone! 

Nothing stops them from blooming and nothing makes me happier then seeing them in my garden each September.


xxoogail

Ps I've been away visiting my son who successfully defended his dissertation then I got sick.  Never fly with a head cold, it only makes it worse.

Lip Smacking Deliciousness: Pollen and Nectar

Allium sphaerocephalum an attractive nectar source for bees and some butterflies

It's summer and the  flowers are  open for business.  Pollen is ready and the nectar is flowing. It's the perfect time to watch the bees (and other pollinators)  that live in your garden. 

This morning~Bee on Agastache 'Golden Jubilee'

Bees are fascinating looking creatures. They  are beautifully and perfectly adapted for feeding on nectar and pollen.  They  have a  proboscis for reaching deeply into a flower for nectar  and  hairy bodies that catch the pollen as they move from flower to flower.

last fall

Bees aren't in the business of pollinating, that's incidental to their primary task~finding food and raising the next generations!

They are as busy as...well, as bees can be.   They need nectar for energy and pollen for  their offspring/larvae.

Pollen is the  fine dust-like grains or powder formed within the anther of a flowering plant,  that must be transported from the stamen to the pistil for reproduction to occur. 

Nectar is a sweet and rich carbohydrate liquid made of amino acids, vitamins, metal ions and even protein.  (source)  It's the perfect energy booster and food for bees and other pollinators.

 Flowers produce nectar to  attract bees, beetles, butterflies, moths, bats and hummingbirds.  While collecting the nectar, pollinators transfer pollen from male flowers to female flowers.  Nature cleverly designed it to happen that way!   The floral nectaries, where nectar is produced,  are positioned at the base  of the perianth insuring that the bee's hairy body will  brush the flower's  anthers and pistil (reproductive system) and pick up those pollen grains.

Bees need regular sources of pollen and nectar.  They need energy to fuel their busy bee-ness and pollen and nectar for their young. Honeybees collect nectar and make honey for the hive residents, but, native bees make a concoction of bee saliva, nectar and pollen to feed their offspring.

Agastache is a bee magnet in my garden

I know, I've written this before~ If you want to attract bees and other pollinators to your garden:

• plant large swathes of pollinator friendly,  nectar and pollen producers
• plant host plants~don't stop at nectar and pollen plants
• plan for bloom from late spring to early winter.
• bee sure to include water
• provide nesting sites for a variety of visitors, some bare ground (ix-nay on the plastic landscape cloth) and decaying logs and even special bee houses
• Be aware that some new cultivars are not pollinator friendly.  When plants are bred to bloom for a very long time,  to be disease resistant or to have especially big, colorful flowers they might not make pollen or nectar.

Cleome 'Senorita Rosalita' is stunningly beautiful, but, completely sterile with NO visitors since she was planted!

Those plants go into containers to look pretty~Not in the  limited space in my Susan's  bed.


xxoogail

PS Now, please  raise your camera and solemnly swear that your will never, ever, ever, ever, ever use pesticides in your garden.  Now don't you feel better for having made that commitment!

In case you want to read earlier pollinator posts~

Now Is The Time To Bee-gin Thinking About Bees ( here)
This Is The Place To Bee ( here)
If You Could Plant Only One Plant In Your Garden~Don't (here)
Must Bee The Season of The Witch (here)
Go Bare In Your Garden (here)
We can't All Be Pretty Pollinators (here)
Eye, Eye Skipper, Big Eyed Pollinators (here)
What's In Your Garden (here)
Carpenter Bees (here)
Got Wildflowers?(here)
It's Spring and A Gardener's Thoughts Are On Pollinators (here)
The Wildflower and The Bee (here)
A Few Good Reasons To Plant Milkweek (here)
Got Shade? You Can Have Pollinators (here)
Royalty In The Garden (here)
A Pollinator friendly Shrub (here)
Big Goings On at C and L (here)

Other bee posts you might want to read~
Count Yourself Lucky To Have Hoverflies (here)
Bumblebee Hotel (here)
Still Taking Care Of Bzzness (here)
My Sweet Embraceable You (here)

Bee clip art (here)


This post was written by Gail Eichelberger for my blog Clay and Limestone Copyright 2011.This work protected under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Please contact me for permission to copy, reproduce, scrape, etc.