In my experience Columbine does best when seeds are sown in fall and it also does really well with the "wintersowing" method.

Not too late in the year for my blooms- the earliest bloomer is just starting to have the flowers die back and I have others that are just starting to bud up. A bunch are currently in bloom. Not sure if it's because I have different kinds or because of their growing locations.

Seed pods will fatten up but stay green for a while. Then they start to fade more to dry, and that's when to keep an eye on them for seeds. They are wonderfully self-sowing and like to drop their seed. Once the seeds turn very dark brow/blackish the seeds are done and you can harvest the pods.

A good seed head can give you lots of seed, and even the little ones can have a nice amount. If you like you can snip off the seed heads into a paper bag, shake, and get a lot of seed. Or you can smash the seed heads to get more of it- I like to use the cotton ball trick to clean the debris from the seed. Or you can take the whole heads and smash them up and sprinkle them around where you want them to be.

If you do the smash and sprinkle, you can do it right away because it's the right time for teh seed to want to drop. You can do them in the spring too, and I've heard of some folks wintersowing them as well if I'm not mistaken.

as it matures.. the droopy flower will stand upright ... kinda like spires on a church ... and when they dry.. the tops will opens ... and the seed is ready ... black ... shiny.. and hard ...

you can take the whole frond.. and lay it where you want some next year ...

i used to just walk thru the garden.. and just smack them.. and free spread them ... but i had the usual common suspects ... [btw.. rose champion .. lynchis ... is about the same .. they open]

or you could label an envelope ... and pour them in ... and store them somewhere dry ...

or.. do both ...

many of the more common ones reseeds easily ... i dont know about the foo foo ones ... or if they are sterile.. or have reduced fertility ...

ken

notice in the 5th pic.. they have opened: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=columbine+seed+pods&t=ffcm&iar=images&iax=images&ia=images

I planted 4 columbines in a public park and they have come back for 3 years. Some Nebraskans have trouble overwintering them. They are in the middle of their bloom period now and showing off! Like Ken says, nothingn foo foo, just good old ordinary columbine! Heidi

I take a ziplock gallon bag, put it over the dried heads while on the plant, zip it shut, and then cut the stems, because they fall out of the pods so easily.
I then take a dehydrating packet (like from new shoe boxes) and put it inside the bag, zip it shut and then save it for planting time.
Last columbines I stratified half in the fridge then planted both out at the same time. I saw no difference, so I say don't bother with stratification.
Carla in Sac

I try to not let them go to seed for the most part by deadheading (they are supposed to be short lived perennials otherwise). I grow in a container. I did collect and spread some seeds last fall as an insurance policy in case my 2 year old plants (I bought a bare root pack) die off. The seedlings were brought in for the winter I am hoping for blooms in the next few weeks. My original plants just started blooming. First bloom today.

They reseed pretty vigorously, but all seem to revert to blue or purple.

Most of my aquilegias are finished, except for the yellow ones that bloom for an extended time. I grow many, but didn’t take many pictures this year. Here’s a few from the past couple of months.