Virgina bluebells

Flower & Garden Magazine, March-April, 1997 by Ron Beathard

Several springs ago I was walking a dry creek bed near my home. Because this was a fossil-hunting expedition, my head was down, intent upon the flat limestone rocks. I turned a bend and, in a glance that filled my view, I saw stretching from the creek bed halfway up the hillside a crazy quilt of Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica), all gray-green leaves and smoky, sapphire blue blossoms. A slight breeze caused the flower clusters to nod, revealing pink buds that changed the scene like a kaleidoscope. I was determined to have in my back yard, if not a stunning display like that, then at least a reminder of that scene.

I succeeded.

This perennial grows in masses of hundreds in woods and moist bottom lands in a triangle formed by Kansas, New York and Alabama. Virginia bluebells are planted in woodland gardens well outside their native range, too, in Zones 3 to 10. They shine in the gardens of people who appreciate clusters of blue blossoms -- a rare color in nature -- hanging from knee-high plants.

My Virginia bluebells (also called cowslip or lungwort) bloom beneath the canopy of a large silver maple tree. Although they are best adapted to the dappled shade of deciduous trees, they tolerate full sun in cooler climates. In my back yard they enjoy the company of spring beauties (Claytonia virginica), Dutchman's breeches (Dicentra cucullaria), wild ginger (Asarum canadense) and a few Jack-in-the-pulpits (Arisaema triphyllum) I have randomly scattered about the area.

Soon after the bluebells bloom in late spring and the seeds have matured, the leaves wither and disappear, allowing overplanting. I stick a few twigs into the ground to mark their location if I need to find them again. The arching fronds of lady ferns (Athyrium filix-femina) fill in the bare spots for the rest of the growing season.

Plant bluebells in a location where there is good drainage and the soil is moist in springtime and rich with compost, it should be moderately acid to neutral (pH 5.5 to 7). My bluebells have survived a hard summer's drought.

I started with three pots of bluebells several years ago. Today I have more than a dozen plants towering over my humbler wildflowers. Bluebells are natural colonizers, self-seeding with abandon. They can be propagated either from made in late autumn. Since it takes about three years for seedlings to mature and flower, I suggest beginning withe nursery-propagated plants. Plant them in prepared soil in early spring, spacing them 2 to 3 feet apart, and mulch them lightly.

Virginia bluebells lack a long blooming season, durable foliage, medicinal uses and an attraction for birds and butterflies -- attributes that many gardeners seek in the plants they grow. But for a few brief weeks in spring, there is no better example of "glory, in the flower."