Everyone loves columbines, and this is the wild one gardeners love most. Also known as American Columbine, this beauty is native from Canada to Florida all the way west to Texas and the Dakotas.

The flowers are showy, nodding bells of a bright strawberry red with lots of yellow stamens. The foliage is fernlike, like all columbines, and this plant forms neat, short (1 to 2 ft.) clumps that are both tough and durable yet extremely delicate in appearance. The flowers bloom in "late spring," and always attract hummingbirds.

While considered a woodland wildflower, wild columbine often occurs in the wild on open rocky slopes in full baking sun.