Aquilegia commonly known as Columbine
or granny's bonnet is a spring flowering perennial in a range of colors
and bicolors.
They can grow in sun or partial shade,
though always do better when shaded for at least some of the day. They naturalize
well fitting into mixed planting schemes particularly on the edge of
woodland areas, not quite under trees, but nearby so the tree can give
some dappled shade.
They grow to about 24 inches in height
and form clumps of 1/2 to 2/3rds this in width. They will frequently
self-seed, though if you allow this be quite ruthless in removing extras
as there is a tendency to revert to a more wild-type strain with small
dark flowers which are not really worth having. Of course you need to
let them flower first to see what you've got.
They can also be propagated by division
in spring which is a better way of getting more of the colors that you
like. Recovery after division can be slow as they're not happy about
having the roots disturbed.
