Texas Gold Columbine

Aquilegia chrysantha var. hinckleyana

Aquilegia chrysantha, also known as golden columbine, canary columbine, or southwestern yellow columbine, is a perennial that forms a bushy clump and grows to a height of 1-3 feet. It is found in canyons in western Texas, southern New Mexico, southern Utah, and Arizona, extending south into northern Mexico, with a separated population in southern Colorado.

Bright yellow flowers, each with five petals, bloom in early spring (March-early May). Each petal has a short tube at the front and a distinctive, slender, tapered, downward-pointing, backward-projecting, straight to outward-curving spur. The flowers also have five-pointed petaloid sepals that are longer than the blades of the petals but are lighter yellow. The flowers emit a slight fragrance. This species is often used as a parent to hybridize long-spurred hybrid columbines because of its unusual longspurs. The basal leaves are mostly 3-ternate and compound palmate.

Golden columbine is a loose grower but usually does not require support if given adequate moisture during the growing season. It thrives in organically rich, moist, sandy loams in light to moderate shade, but generally tolerates a wide range of soils as long as they are well-drained. Add sand to clay soils to improve drainage, but this species handles heat and sun better than most other species in the genus. After blooming, remove flowering stems to encourage additional color. Keep soils uniformly moist after bloom to prolong attractive foliage appearance. When foliage depreciates, plants may be cut to the ground. It seeds well in optimum growing conditions as long as the flowers are not deadheaded.