Earlybird is a compact columbine series with upward-facing, two-tone spurred blooms in spring on tidy plants around a foot tall. The flowers sit above lacy blue-green foliage and open early in the season, giving hummingbirds and bees a meal before most summer perennials wake up.

In Birmingham, columbine likes morning sun with afternoon shade and moist, well-drained soil. Deadhead to stretch the bloom season, and expect the foliage to rest during high summer heat; fresh leaves return with cooler fall weather. Deer and rabbits usually pass it by.