In 2015, a peronspora fungus (downy mildew) tore through a national collection of aquilegias and has since been reported as 'widespread' in the UK...although I have not noticed any significant slowdown in nursery sales over here. Since this is a virulent pathogen, with no cure (not dissimilar to the DM which more or less finished impatiens wallichianum as a summer bedding plant), I am not really clear where we are now. Seeds have been cited as a source of nursery infection...but no plant has been affected by infected seed...so either the worst of the effects have run their course (and bear in mind, it was a huge collection of columbines grown on one nursery - Touchwood plants in Walesl..(and personally, I think the proprietor is something of an idiot charlatan of the Reiki master, remote healing rubbish, new age woo type...which tends to alter my opinion towards scepticism...butprobably not in the case of DM)). I would say that growing just a handful of plants is OK especially since the fungus is plant specific...but for growers in the US, the symptoms are clearly recognised and may continue to be a problem in the future (along with a particularly nasty agapanthus gall midge, also relatively 'new to science').

Apart from that, I find aquilegias to be tough and tolerant plants...although fancy hybrids will inevitably revert back to pink and blue singles over time.

i have the red one .. Aquilegia canadensis

and i have a Popsicle purple one ..

both reseed freely .. and of course.. that is why i have them .. lol .. never really a problem.. they just wander around a bit .. i would think of them more as a wildflower.. rather than a formal specimen plant type.. if that makes any sense ...

i dont care about leaf miners ... a little variegation in an otherwise green leaf is fine with me ...

they can be totally denuded by late summer by a different moth/flutterby ... i dont care

they will continue to bloom.. as long as you cut off indivual setting pods ...

lifes too short to use sprays on them ...

ken

I have grown a range of them. They provide early flowers that the hummingbirds love, will seed around (though not problematically) if not deadheaded, and take up little space, especially considering the amount of flowers they produce. Easy to pull if they volunteer where unwanted.

I now just have some double whites and the native A. canadensis which is red and yellow. Both come back true to type. Others I've grown don't seed true colors and eventually end up muddy pink or don't seem to do well in my soil long-term, though there are most likely others I haven't tried that would do well here. They seem to look fine with everything else in my cottage garden and don't seem to be a vole favorite, always a plus in my garden. They are short-lived, only a few seasons, so choose a few to let go to seed each year.

I haven't had foliage issues.

Ditto Ken's comments mostly. Where I am they come up between the driveway asphalt and garage cement, at the edge of my granite garden paths, and generally wherever else they please. I'm always glad to see them so they're welcome no matter where they pop up which has been (so far) on the north, west, & east sides of my house.

FYI - I've had ZERO success growing them from seed, even via winter sowing.

Also agreed that it's a good plant (I have A. canadensis) to let pop up here and there, especially if you've got some bare areas. They fill in quickly and are easy to pull from places you don't want them. I have pulled them especially from front-of-border spots near the sidewalk where I want more control over appearance -- I'm not terribly bothered by the leaf miners, but I hate to see powdery mildew on things. They're one of the best plants I've found for dry shade situations, too.

I tried hard for several years to establish the native canadensis, but something eats the leaves as soon as they open. I get stalks of one bloom, with no foliage, and the denuded plants don't return. I have had success with wintersowing, but they get eaten as soon as they are planted out.

Martha

Mine get both leaf miner and columbine worm, the foliage looks awful within weeks of it flushing out. It does come back reliably every year but I don't think I would have planted it if I had known it would be an on-going problem.

I grow lots of them and I'm surprised how well they do here in So CA. As long as I have them in mostly shade, they do great. I do have a hard time keeping my favorites from hybridizing with others, as they are so promiscuous. I find seedlings everywhere.

Years ago I ordered a bunch of Touchwood seeds (before the DM outbreak). This winter I was even able to germinate some of those seeds that were maybe 4 years old. I love them! I'll take some pictures as soon as my phone charges up. Lisa

I have several--Nora Barlow, which looks like peppermint-striped candy, Beidermeier that I grew from seed and which reseeds everywhere now in various shades of rose, magenta, and purple, a solid yellow, and a red and white that drowned this winter and blue and white that's doing well. Mine do get mildewed so I cut the foliage back completely after bloom and it leafs out again.

Years ago I wintersowed many varieties of columbine and had a good variety of bloom types. Some varieties have completely disappeared while others continue through self seeded plants. Since we also have leaf miner problems I haven't sown other seeds. I let them bloom as they will and those that are especially nice get deadheaded, individual blossoms' until I get tired of that and let them set seed.

I never purchase them anymore since they germinate where they want to live. A friend gave me some seeds that I planted a few weeks ago and they're coming up. They're supposed to be red. I find others here and there, many times in an out of the way rocked area. The last purchase was a variegated one with a deep blue flower, it has come back reliably and has many seedlings at its feet.

No ID handy

A. 'Ruby Port'

I think the last photo of mine is 'Ruby Port' ,as well. Lisa

Good to hear the positive comments! I have one that looks like the blue and white Biedermeir (?sp) pic above - it's so cheerful!

I've grown McKana's Giant in North Dakota. They overwintered and seeded themselves - delightfully low maintenance when my kids were small. I found it interesting how the flowers changed color from year to year, with different combinations of white, yellow, purple, and pink.

Looks good with hosta...

I try to deadhead the droopers and spread the seed of those that look skyward.

tj

tsugajunkie, that's gorgeous!