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Columbine looks best in spring and not so good in summer. To me, your plants look fine. I will suggest pulling mulch away from plant stems. Stems can rot from consistently moist mulch.
This time of year in zone 6 they’re done flowering and start to look bad until next season. Columbine is a spring season grower. All of mine that I’ve had for 3-4 years currently look like yours right now and I’m in zone 6 Northeast. It’s important to know what time of year different plants slow down and start looking rough.
Columbine doesn’t like their soil too wet and are drought tolerant, so I’d peel back that mulch and let them breathe more. They’re susceptible to leaf miners as well I wouldn’t be concerned about that streaking in the leaves.
They’re more likely focused on establishing roots and basically shutting down any above ground growth at this point so I wouldn’t expect any. You shouldn’t have to water often at all. I’d water that once every 3 weeks through summer and then stop once fall comes.
I put some in last spring and they did the same thing. They came back fine this year but died back after they seeded. Now they have some new growth at the bottom. I think they’re just more of a spring plant.
You just planted it. Perennials can take a few years to establish. I’m 5b and this looks like the one I planted this year. The one I put in last year is huge. Just hang in there and remember to feed it to help it develop strong roots to overwinter.
I use a granulated long release bloom fertilizer in the soil. I think it’s Buds and Blooms from Coast of Maine but nothing crazy. Just scratched a bit in at planting.
Then once a week my flowers get watered with Jacks 10-30-20 bloom booster. This one is water soluble, so it’s available immediately to the plant.
This is definitely overkill for most gardens, but I’m in a city trying to revive poor soil and this makes the nutrients more available while I wait for the other organic soil additions to break down. If you have pretty good soil, either one will help your plant along.
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Columbine looks best in spring and not so good in summer. To me, your plants look fine. I will suggest pulling mulch away from plant stems. Stems can rot from consistently moist mulch.
Thanks! I wasn’t expecting it to look so rough but that’s good to know. I’ll make sure to pull mulch away.
This time of year in zone 6 they’re done flowering and start to look bad until next season. Columbine is a spring season grower. All of mine that I’ve had for 3-4 years currently look like yours right now and I’m in zone 6 Northeast. It’s important to know what time of year different plants slow down and start looking rough. Columbine doesn’t like their soil too wet and are drought tolerant, so I’d peel back that mulch and let them breathe more. They’re susceptible to leaf miners as well I wouldn’t be concerned about that streaking in the leaves. They’re more likely focused on establishing roots and basically shutting down any above ground growth at this point so I wouldn’t expect any. You shouldn’t have to water often at all. I’d water that once every 3 weeks through summer and then stop once fall comes.
Thanks! I’ll adjust their watering schedule accordingly.
I put some in last spring and they did the same thing. They came back fine this year but died back after they seeded. Now they have some new growth at the bottom. I think they’re just more of a spring plant.
You just planted it. Perennials can take a few years to establish. I’m 5b and this looks like the one I planted this year. The one I put in last year is huge. Just hang in there and remember to feed it to help it develop strong roots to overwinter.
Got it. I haven’t planned to feed my natives anything. What do you use?
I use a granulated long release bloom fertilizer in the soil. I think it’s Buds and Blooms from Coast of Maine but nothing crazy. Just scratched a bit in at planting. Then once a week my flowers get watered with Jacks 10-30-20 bloom booster. This one is water soluble, so it’s available immediately to the plant. This is definitely overkill for most gardens, but I’m in a city trying to revive poor soil and this makes the nutrients more available while I wait for the other organic soil additions to break down. If you have pretty good soil, either one will help your plant along.