Cameo Series Blue & White Columbine

Follow a regular watering schedule during the first growing season to establish a deep extentsive root system. Cut back hard and feed with a general purpose fertilizer before new growth begins in spring. Trim off dead flowers to encourage reblooming.

Columbines are wonderfully versatile and fit into virtually any kind of garden. Their origins in the western woodlands make them perfect for semishaded conditions beneath native tree canopies as well as under shade and street trees. Adaptation to wild garden settings and compatibility of the hybrids with natives adapts well to informal naturalistic settings. Bright new colors are equally at home in cottage and country gardens. For small spaces and minimal yards these flowers offer a lot, both their delicate flowers and foliage along with the remarkably wiry stems, all best appreciated at close range.

Colubines blend beautifully with Vesuvius Coral Bells, (Heuchera x 'Vesuvius'), Stop Light Foamy Bells, (xHeucherella 'Stop Light'), Firewitch Cheddar Pink, (Dianthus gratianopolitanus 'Firewitch'), Farmington New York Aster, (Aster novi-belgii 'Baldco') and Sunshine Selections Lenten Rose, (Helleborus x hybrida 'Sunshine Selections').

This large genus of perennials is native to the North Temperate zones including a large percentage from North America. Modern hybrids are traced back to two species: A. caerrulea, a native of the Rocky Mountains and A. chrysantha native further south and ranging into Texas. But this species is unique, derived from Japan where it is known as the Japanese fan columbine.

Columbine has always been associated with doves, known as columba in Latin, and so became a symbol of the Holy Spirit in Medieval Europe.