In my years of professional floral photography, I'm overjoyed to have photographed so many flowers and blossoms in the San Francisco Bay Area, where a number of America's best public gardens are located. Some are large; some are small. All are beautiful.

One of my late-spring to late-summer favorite was columbine, also known formally as Aquilegia. The perennial herb is also commonly known as granny’s bonnet.

Blue Columbine FlowerColumbine photographed in Valley of Hearts' Delight by Glenn Franco Simmons.

"{It} is a genus of about 60 {to} 70 species of perennial plants that are found in meadows, woodlands, and at higher altitudes throughout the Northern Hemisphere, known for the spurred petals of their flowers,” according to Wikipedia.

“The genus name Aquilegia comes from the Latin ‘Aquila,’ or ‘eagle.’ This is in obvious reference to the spurred, ‘hook’ shapes within the blooms, that many gardeners say resemble an eagle's talons.”

Some butterflies and moths feed on columbine, as well as hummingbirds. 

“The fruit has … five to 15 follicles {that} hold many seeds and are formed at the end of the pistils,” Wikipedia noted. “The nectar is mainly consumed by long-beaked birds such as hummingbirds. …

“Columbines are closely related to plants in the genera Actaea (baneberries) and Aconitum (wolfsbanes/monkshoods), which like Aquilegia produce cardiogenic toxins.”

Blue Columbine FlowersColumbine photographed in Valley of Hearts' Delight by Glenn Franco Simmons. Blue Columbine FlowersColumbine photographed in Valley of Hearts' Delight by Glenn Franco Simmons. Blue Columbine FlowersColumbine photographed in Valley of Hearts' Delight by Glenn Franco Simmons. Columbine can really brighten a spring garden.