I'm certainly no expert but I also summer sowed columbine seeds and got good germination. The sprouts are still too small to handle but I'm hoping they'll grow big enough to plant in the ground before frost. If you plant them this fall, they'll go dormant over winter and should bloom next year. The seeds I winter sowed in January 2010 only grew foliage last year and bloomed this year.

{{gwi:235920}}

I got the seeds in a trade so it was anybody's guess what they would look like. This year I traded for a white variety & hope they come true from seed. Swallowtail Garden Seeds sells a large number of columbine varieties which would suggest they do come true from seed.

Keeping them in a pot indoors is not recommended--they're alpine plants and need to go dormant during cold weather.

I think you should put them in the ground too - wait until the weather has moderated just a little if its been warm, dry there. The roots will continue to grow and establish as long as the ground isn't frozen, in this zone that is most/all of winter.

I don't see any white in the background of either of your plants that would make it reasonable to hope for white flowered seedlings.

Great!
Thanks for the input!
Gardenweed...those are gorgeous!!!