Can you transplant columbine?

[journey11]

The columbine Ava started last year finally bloomed this year and I love how their colors go with the other perennials and shrubs I have in this bed. Only problem is they are too tall for being along the front! This is the first time I've grown them and I am wondering if they will handle being transplanted and if they'll do ok where it is a little shadier nearer the back?

 

[thistlebloom]

The shadier area should be fine, but I'm pretty sure columbine has a taproot, so you'll need to really get under it to transplant it. Why don't you wait and collect the seeds before you try transplanting the mother plant. That way you'll have something growing from them at least.

 

[journey11]

Oh, that's another question I had...do they reseed like crazy? These are a pretty double-flowered one. I wondered if that might make them less likely to get pollinated too. I will definitely wait until they go to seed, just in case I kill them.

 

[thistlebloom]

They do reseed really well, but they cross like crazy so you may not end up with the same flowers. Unless you only have the one variety...but then if they're a hybrid it could get kind of confusing!

 

[thistlebloom]

BTW, that's a really pretty flowerbed Journey!

 

[catjac1975]

The columbine Ava started last year finally bloomed this year and I love how their colors go with the other perennials and shrubs I have in this bed. Only problem is they are too tall for being along the front! This is the first time I've grown them and I am wondering if they will handle being transplanted and if they'll do ok where it is a little shadier nearer the back?
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I would wait until cool weather. I think I have transplanted them but do not remember the outcome. I do not think they have a taproot. But, feeling like I have a poor memory at the moment....

 

[Smart Red]

I seem to remember that they are hard to transplant, but it's been years since I planted them (from nursery stock) so I'm not really sure.

 

[journey11]

BTW, that's a really pretty flowerbed Journey!

Thanks! It's finally filling in. I have lots of weeds in there, but they're still small. Hopefully I can get the mulching done before they take over!

 

[GardenGeisha]

I transplanted about 10 clumps of different kinds of columbines from the front garden of the church to my home garden a month ago. At first a couple of the clumps looked wilted and languishing, but the all survived and sent up new growth and are looking great. Most had been weedwhacked accidentally prior to my transplanting them around April 15, but a couple had not and had buds. Those are now blooming, as if their growth had not been interrupted in the slightest. I am sooo pleased. I have not had the same luck with my transplanted lavender, though. Everything else seemed to transplant except my Missouri evening primrose looks questionable. Even plants with long taproots such as blue flax transplanted. I was so pleasantly surprised. I'm in northern Utah, Zone 6-7.

 

[Nyboy]

I think the big secert to transplanting is water. Lots and lots of water till roots start growing.