Columbine Earlybird Red and White

Columbine 'Earlybird Red and White' (Aquilegia 'Earlybird Red and White') is a dwarf columbine that holds at about 30cm tall and 30cm wide. The flowers are the reason to grow it: nodding, long spurred bells in crisp red and white above fine blue green foliage. Being compact and early, it performs before most cottage garden perennials get going.

Why you'll love it

• Cottage flowers at a manageable size. Older columbines flop about at knee height, while this one holds a tidy 30cm mound that needs no staking.
• Two colours in one flower. Red spurs against a white centre give it more presence than a single colour perennial.
• Genuinely frost hardy. It dies back over winter and returns in spring, so it succeeds in cold southern gardens where softer perennials give up.
• Bees and butterflies work it. Nectar sits at the back of each spur, so long tongued pollinators keep returning.

Where it works best

Borders and edging. Plant 30cm apart along the front of a bed for a continuous ribbon of flower, close enough that the mounds touch without shading each other.

Pots and small gardens. A 250mm pot holds one plant and three fill a wider planter, so a courtyard gains seasonal colour without losing floor space.

Rockeries and mass planting. Tuck it into a pocket where drainage is sharp, or run a drift of nine to fifteen plants at 30cm centres through a mixed bed.

Growing columbine in Australia

Position and climate. Cool temperate, warm temperate and Mediterranean gardens suit it. Full sun gives the heaviest flowering in the south, while warmer districts do better with morning sun and afternoon shade. Humid tropical and subtropical summers are outside its range.

Soil. Moist but well drained, with compost worked through before planting. Wet winter clay is the main killer, so raise the bed or use a container.

Water and feed. Water evenly through spring and flowering, then ease off as the plant dies back. A liquid feed every three weeks from bud break is enough.

Pruning. Remove spent flowers to keep new buds coming, then cut back to the basal foliage once flowering ends. Top growth disappears over winter and reshoots in spring.

What to expect when it arrives

It is sold in one size, tube stock: a young plant with a small root ball and a modest cluster of leaves rather than an instant flowering specimen. Tubes travel well because there is little top growth to bruise.

Pot it on or plant it straight out, and expect roots to fill the new space in six to eight weeks. Flowering follows in the first or second spring. Delivered Australia wide, delivery from $29.95, with a minimum order of $300 before delivery, and every plant is covered by our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• Perennial plants for a cottage garden
• Browse the wider flowering plant range
• Rockery plants for sharp drainage
• Bee and butterfly friendly planting

Common questions

Is columbine safe around pets and children?

No. All parts of the plant are toxic if eaten, seeds included, so it is not one for a garden where a dog digs or a toddler grazes. A raised bed or a pot at height solves the problem.

How long will it live?

Three to four good years, since columbines are short lived perennials. They seed freely, so leave a few flower heads to ripen and let the seedlings carry the planting on.

Will it flower in the first year?

From a spring planted tube, usually yes, though lightly. The second season is the one that fills out, once the crown has built some size over winter.

Will it grow in a warm humid climate?

Not reliably. In humid subtropical summers the foliage tends to collapse, so treat it as a short term seasonal plant if you try it outside its cool and warm temperate range.