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Virginia Bluebell

Mertensia virginiana


Regular price $3633
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Plant Sentry™

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Plant Sentry™ Protected

Your order is protected by our compliance system that:

  • Prevents restricted plants from shipping to your state
  • Ensures plants meet your state's agricultural requirements
  • Protects gardens from invasive pests and diseases

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Delivery and Shipping

Delivery and Shipping

Fast, Safe Plant Delivery
Ships in 3-4 business days • Tracking provided • Weather protected

Under $50 $9.99
$50 - $99.99 $14.99
$100 - $149.99 $16.99
$150 - $198.99 $24.99
$199+ FREE

✓ Zone-specific timing • ✓ Professional packaging • ✓ Health guarantee

Plant Profile & Growing Essentials

Cold hardy, Native, Flowering, Wet Soils, Attracts pollinators, and Non-invasive

Specifications

  • Botanical Name
    Mertensia virginiana
  • Height
    1-2 ft
  • Width
    1 -2 ft
  • Growing Zones
    4-9
  • Growth Rate
    Fast
  • Flower Color
    • Blue
    • Purple
    • Pink
  • Leaf Color
    • Green
  • Bloom Period
    Late Spring
  • Does Not Ship To
    AK, HI, ID, MT

Planting & Care

Where to Plant

  • Sunlight: Choose a spot with partial shade to full shade, providing about 2 to 4 hours of soft morning sun. Too much direct afternoon sunlight will scorch the delicate leaves and force the plant into an early summer dormancy.
  • Soil: These plants crave rich, loamy soil that mimics a forest floor, so mix in plenty of compost or leaf mold before planting. If you have heavy clay, add organic matter to improve drainage because soggy soil during the winter dormant period can lead to root rot.

Watering Requirements

Provide consistent moisture during the spring growing season to support the lush foliage and bell shaped flowers. Once the plant goes dormant in mid summer, you can cut back on watering, but avoid letting the soil bake into a hard crust. Inconsistent watering while the plant is active often leads to premature wilting and a shorter bloom cycle.

Pruning Tips

Virginia Bluebells are spring ephemerals that naturally die back to the ground after they finish flowering. Do not prune or remove the foliage until it has turned completely yellow or brown, as the leaves are busy sending energy down to the roots for next year. Think of this yellowing phase as the plant recharging its internal battery for a successful return next spring.

Fertilizer Needs

Top dress the area with a layer of compost or apply a balanced, slow release fertilizer just as the first sprouts emerge from the soil in early spring. Avoid using high nitrogen fertilizers late in the spring season because this can produce weak, succulent growth that is more attractive to garden pests. Using a natural mulch like shredded leaves will also provide a steady stream of nutrients as it breaks down over time.

A perfect, shade-loving flower, the Virginia Blue Bell (Mertensia virginica) is a native plant to the eastern United States, and can be grown throughout much of the country. The curious color-changing flower buds emerge a pink color and gradually turn to their lovely shade of light blue, as they open fully while blooming through the spring before taking on a more lavender hue at maturity.

Forming clusters of bell-shaped blooms with their nodding buds atop long slender stems, they attract early spring pollinators to sip the nectar. Beneath the Virginia Bluebell blooms lies the large, green, oval leaves of this attractive herbaceous perennial. The plant stands upright, reaching up to 2 feet tall, and produces arching ends with pendulous clusters of bell-shaped flowers. It looks more beautiful than it sounds too and your whole neighborhood will be able to attest to that!

Virginia Blue Bell is a very hardy plant and will even grow beneath Black Walnut trees! You will have no worries about anything stopping this flower from standing out amongst the crowd! Remarkably cold-hardy throughout USDA growing zones 3 through 8, Blue Bells are easy-to-grow wildflowers for shade! Blue Bells are deer and rabbit resistant too!

Planting and Application:

Just imagine the Virginia Blue Bell planted in natural clumps in shaded areas of your landscape or lining a wandering path. These lovely blooms add color to shaded gardens and early spring landscapes. Because these shy blooms recede in the heat, Bluebells appreciate being underplantings beneath larger shrubs and trees, especially ones that leaf out later in the season giving these delicate perennials a place to hide.

Pollinators will still love the plant, and butterflies, moths, and bees will flock to the small blooms. And who can really blame them? This flower is absolutely stunning! Plant in shady pollinator and wildflower gardens, in dappled forest meadows and cut flower gardens, and beneath the shade of large trees where they happily ramble and spread. They appear like spring ephemerals and shyly hide once the summer's heat kicks in.

  • Color-Changing Blooms - Pinkish to Blue to Lavender
  • North American Native
  • Shade-Loving, Flowering Bulb
  • Fast Growing Ephemerals
  • Rows and Groupings, Shade Gardens & Spring Bulb Plantings

#ProPlantTips for Care:

Plant your lovely flowers in well-drained soil with partial shade to full shade for the best, healthy growth possible, while also enhancing the overall physical appearance of your landscaping! Blue Bells in the hotter of their preferred growing zones do best in full shade. Plant in very rich organic soil that is well-drained and consistently moist. Enrich the soil with a 3-4 inch layer of arborist bark chips that insulate and better the soil as it breaks down. In the late summer or fall, after the foliage has yellowed, clean the mounds of old foliage.

  • Partial Shade & Full Shade
  • Organic Humusy Soil & Mulched Beds
  • Consistent Moisture & Fertility
  • Juglone Tolerant & Deer and Rabbit Resistant
  • Clean Mounds After Foliage Yellows

Make that a reality today by ordering your very own Virginia Blue Bell today at Nature Hills Nursery! It will be a landscaping-changing decision! Order your perennial spring ephemerals today and we'll ship your order to your growing zone at the right planting time.

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