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Boraginaceae
Virginia Bluebells
Mertensia virginica
Gratitude, humility, fleeting beauty.
- Family
- Boraginaceae
- Genus
- Mertensia
- Native to
- Eastern North America
- Bloom season
- Spring
- Type
- Herbaceous perennial
- Height
- 30–60 cm
- Sunlight
- Part shade to full shade
- Soil
- Rich, moist, woodland
- Water
- Moderate; goes dormant by midsummer
- Hardiness
- 3–8
- Lifespan
- Long-lived; spring ephemeral
Did you know
- The buds emerge bright pink and gradually shift to lavender and finally true sky-blue as they open — all colors are present on the plant at once.
- It's a 'spring ephemeral' — it grows, flowers, and disappears completely above ground within about six weeks before forest trees leaf out.
- The pH change inside the petal cells is what causes the color shift from pink to blue, similar to a litmus test.
- Bumblebees are the primary pollinators because the long tubular flowers are too deep for honeybees to reach.
- Native woodlands of the Appalachian foothills can carpet acres with Virginia bluebells in April, one of the great spring spectacles of eastern forests.
Color meanings
Blue
Quiet thankfulness