Virginia bluebells may be common, but that familiarity does not breed contempt in my garden. Other wildflower enthusiasts and gardeners must agree as well, for we have sold out each of the past fourteen years. We expect this year will be no different.
Mertensia virginica is usually
found in drifts along streams or areas with a bit more moisture, especially
during early spring. I frequently see them in floodplains and under water for
short periods of time. We have a natural drainage ditch etched through the
middle of our property. Each edge of the ditch has drifts of bluebells hundreds
of feet long where seeds have followed the downhill flow of water.
However, bluebells do not require extra moisture to thrive. In my garden they form colonies in good garden soil and emerge from among rocks on hard clay with equal ease. Moisture from normal seasonal rains during their growing cycle seems to satisfy their needs. All to say, Virginia bluebells are forgiving garden perennials, and easily grown wildflower for shade.
Foliage starts each season by poking purple-black noses through ice and snow around the last of February and first of March as if to sniff the winter air. Once they decide the timing is right, foliage quickly emerges. Succulent stems up to two feet or more in height quickly fill out with pale green oblong, alternate, leaves.
Middle to end of March blooms are on display above the foliage in colorful clusters. Buds are soft pink, changing over to blue trumpets about an inch in length. Since the trumpets tend to hang downward they get the name of bell. The overall effect is of a bi-colored bloom with the pink buds and blue flowers. I have seen three different bloom color variations in the wild. An all white form with no hint of blue or pink, an all blue form and a pink form that does not turn blue with age. I understand the sports are not all that rare in large drifts of bluebells, but to date I do not see these sports appearing for sale in catalogs.
Once blooms are pollinated and begin to form seeds, stems lengthen and arch over to sow seeds away from the parent plant. By mid-July the plans melt away above ground to become black storage roots waiting for the next spring.
Two of my favorite companion plants are Merrybells (Uvularia grandiflora) and Wood Poppy (Stylophorum diphyllum). Both bloom in shades of soft yellow creating a classic combination of blue and yellow. While bluebells go dormant early, the other two woodland perennials are good foliage plants through heavy frost. Wood poppy also blooms on and off through summer and fall, especially if deadheaded.