Getting it to bloom

Why won't my Columbine bloom? (and how to make it flower)

Also called Columbine, Common Columbine, Granny's Bonnet, Doves-and-Eagles (Aquilegia vulgaris).

More about columbine

About Columbine

Aquilegia vulgaris · also called Columbine, Common Columbine · flowering

Aquilegia vulgaris is a clump-forming herbaceous perennial native to damp meadows and open woodland across Europe, where it has been cultivated in gardens since the medieval period. It produces distinctive spurred flowers in shades of blue, purple, pink, white, and bicolours from May to June, and its attractive, lobed grey-green foliage persists through the summer. The most important care fact is deadheading promptly if you wish to prevent prolific self-seeding, which can result in seedlings reverting to simpler blue or purple forms. All parts of the plant are toxic to pets.

Plant type: flowering

The reasons columbine isn't blooming

Almost every non-blooming columbine traces back to one of these, roughly in order of how common they are:

Too little sun — most of these need full sun (or very bright light) to flower well; shade gives leaves, not blooms.
Too much nitrogen feed, driving lush foliage at the expense of flowers (very common with general or lawn feeds).
The plant has not been deadheaded, so it stops flowering once it sets seed.
Irregular watering — drought or waterlogging at the budding stage makes buds abort.
It is still too young or was checked by a transplant and is rebuilding before flowering.

Feeding columbine a high-nitrogen general feed and growing it in too little sun — you get a big leafy plant and almost no flowers.

The fix — how to get columbine to flower

Maximise sun. Give columbine the sunniest spot you have — for most bedding and fruiting plants, more direct light directly means more flowers.
Switch the feed. Move off high-nitrogen feeds and use a higher-potassium "bloom" or tomato-type feed as it comes into flower.
Deadhead regularly. Remove spent flowers often to keep it producing more rather than stopping to set seed.
Water consistently. Keep moisture even through budding and flowering — drought-then-flood swings make buds drop.

Light and feeding do most of the heavy lifting here. Dial in the spot with the light guide for columbine and get the feeding right with the columbine fertilising schedule — the wrong feed (too much nitrogen) is one of the most common silent reasons a healthy plant makes leaves instead of flowers.

Bloom season and what to expect

Columbine flowers across its growing season (mostly summer) and, kept fed and deadheaded, can bloom for many weeks or right up to frost.

Post-bloom care so it flowers again

Deadhead, keep feeding lightly, and many will rebloom; collect seed from the best plants at the end of the season if you want to grow them again.

For everything else this plant needs day to day, see the full columbine care brief and its watering schedule — a stressed, badly watered plant rarely has the energy to flower at all.

Columbine blooming — frequently asked questions

Why won't my columbine flower?

Columbine blooms on the season's growth given enough sun, warmth and the right feed — there is no cold or photoperiod trick, just good growing conditions and a bloom-leaning feed. The most common reason it is not happening: Too little sun — most of these need full sun (or very bright light) to flower well; shade gives leaves, not blooms.

How do I make columbine bloom?

Give columbine the sunniest spot you have — for most bedding and fruiting plants, more direct light directly means more flowers. Move off high-nitrogen feeds and use a higher-potassium "bloom" or tomato-type feed as it comes into flower.

When does columbine normally bloom?