Columbine

Value to bees

Nectar

High

Pollen

Moderate

As a honey crop

Not a honey source

Which bees, and why

Only the longest-tongued bumblebees can reach the nectar at the spur tips. Short-tongued species bite a hole through the spur and rob it, and honey bees then use the holes. A columbine patch is one of the easiest places to watch this happen.

Nectar held at the tip of long backward-pointing spurs, reachable only by very long tongues. This is the classic architecture that produces nectar robbing.

Worth knowing

A good nectar source that most bees cannot reach legitimately — which is precisely what makes it interesting.

Flowering

In flower

May to June (northern hemisphere)

A late-spring flow of several weeks.

Growing it

Conditions

Sun or part shade on almost any reasonable soil. Undemanding and short-lived, persisting by self-seeding.

Size

60-90 cm tall in flower.

Native range

Europe, in woodland edge, meadow and rocky ground. Many species and hybrids are grown.

Suits

Small gardens, Large gardens, Meadow or wildflower area, Containers and window boxes

• Self-seeds prolifically and hybridises freely, so seedlings will not come true — which is part of the charm.
• Short-lived; let it seed rather than expecting individual plants to persist.
• Choose single-flowered forms; heavily doubled cultivars have lost their spurs and their nectar with them.

What it looks like

Nodding flowers of five spurred petals in blue, purple, pink or white above finely divided grey-green leaves. The spurs point backwards and upwards and hold nectar at their tips.