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Aquilegia elegantula
Also called Shooting Star Columbine
Western red columbine is a native perennial wildflower of the Southwest and northern Mexico, grown in rock gardens and hummingbird gardens. It does best in cool, moist conditions with partial shade.
Aquilegia elegantula, the western red columbine, is a perennial species of flowering plant in the buttercup family, native to the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico.
Although desert columbine (Aquilegia desertorum) is more commonly planted in gardens, western red columbine is sometimes sold by plant nurseries for use by gardeners. It is planted in rock gardens and as a plant to attract hummingbirds to mountain gardens. When cultivated it requires partial shade unless it is watered generously.
The species is native to the Four Corners states of Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona, and Coahuila and Nuevo León in northern Mexico. There is found naturally at elevations of 1,500 to 3,500 meters (4,900 to 11,500 ft). It grows in moist Douglas fir and spruce–fir forests and in riparian areas near streams or other water courses. It is also found growing directly from rock faces and on subalpine slopes.
Aquilegia alpina · Aquilegia amaliae · Fan Columbine · Aquilegia apuana · Aquilegia aradanica · Aquilegia aragonensis · Dark Columbine · Aquilegia atrovinosa · Atwood's Columbine · Aquilegia aurea · Aquilegia ballii · Aquilegia baluchistanica
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Aquilegia elegantula by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
