Seedfork said:I did a web search and realized that "flowers are persistent" means the flowers stay on the plant for a long time. I think that is what was meant by "persistent".
Yes, if it specifies that it is the flowers that are persistent it would come in my above category of bits not falling off (which can also happen with just parts of flowers, or other parts of a plant). I wouldn't expect columbine flowers to be as persistent as, say, orchid flowers. It most likely just means that they stay on the plant longer than the average number of days for a columbine, or that they persist longer than is strictly necessary for pollination.
