General Culture:

Easily grown in average, medium moisture, well-drained soil in full sun to part shade. Tolerates a wide range of soils except heavy, poorly drained ones. Prefers rich, moist soils with light to moderate shade. Remove flowering stems after bloom to encourage additional bloom. Keep soils uniformly moist after bloom to prolong attractive foliage appearance. When foliage depreciates, plants may be cut to the ground. ‘Cardinal’ is a cultivar of the Songbird Series, which is an F1 hybrid seed strain. Songbird Series cultivars may be grown from seed and may self-seed in the garden under optimum growing conditions. However, different varieties of columbine may cross-pollinate in the garden producing seed that is at variance with either or both parents.

Noteworthy Characteristics:

‘Cardinal’ features large, long-spurred, upward-facing, red and white bicolor flowers (to 3”) on compact, bushy plants typically growing to 20-28” tall. Flowers bloom in spring. Triternate, almost fern-like, gray-green foliage is somewhat suggestive of meadow rue (Thalictrum). Songbird Series cultivars are generally noted for combining compact form with large upward-facing flowers. Other Songbird Series cultivars planted at the Kemper Center include A. ‘Bunting’ (see A332) and A. ‘Dove’ (see A715). Aquilegia comes from the Latin word for eagle in reference to the flower’s five spurs that purportedly resemble an eagle’s talon.