Mertensia virginica – Virginia Bluebells

One of our  most beautiful wildflowers and needing little introduction. It’s worth remembering that this is a Spring Ephemeral, with foliage dying back by early summer, and often in need of later emerging plants (ferns are ideal) that can help fill the vacated space. Also Bluebells are not always blue – sometimes the pink color of the bud will be maintained in the fully open flower and sometimes a white variant will appear. The species is native to New York, but mostly restricted to the Western portion of the state. About the only place it has been recorded as occurring in eastern New York is right here in Ulster County. However, we’ve never come across it in our ramblings. If you know of a population on your property and would be interested in sharing seeds, we’d be interested in collecting them.