Aquilegia caerulea (Colorado blue columbine) Colorado’s state flower usually blooms much later in the mountains, but in my garden it almost always opens its first flowers in late April. I’ve grown wonderful clumps of this plant over the years. It’s not long-lived, however, and the color isn’t reliably blue if you grow other types of columbines. But it’s always worth getting again from reliable sources where the true-blue form is maintained. This plant grows best in partial shade in good, rich, porous soil. Photo by LJH Images.