Virginia bluebells
Mertensia virginica · Boraginaceae
Pink buds open to nodding clusters of sky-blue bells above soft, blue-green leaves in early spring. By early summer the whole plant has vanished underground.
- Size
- 20 in tall, 16 in wide
- Zones
- 3 to 8
- Light
- Part sun to shade
- Flowers
- Mid April to early May
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Drift
A bed built around Virginia bluebells
The planner designed this bed around Virginia bluebells when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) naturalistic planting in zone 6, part shade. It chose the other plants from the 513 that suit those conditions, and says below why Virginia bluebells stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Virginia bluebells × 7, blue
- 2 Green-and-gold × 25, yellow
- 3 Astilbe 'Sprite' × 7, pink
- 4 Cardinal flower × 3, red
- 5 Japanese anemone 'Honorine Jobert' × 3, white
- 6 Inkberry 'Gem Box' × 1, dark green leaves
- 7 Yellow trout lily × 8, yellow
- 8 Winter cyclamen × 3, pink
Why this plant
- A classic partner for yellow trout lily. Both are on this plan. A pairing gardeners have proved outranks a general rule.
- The only blue.
Why here
- At the back. At 20 in it is the step between green-and-gold (6 in) in front and cardinal flower (3½ ft) behind: each is seen over the one before.
- A step in the back row. Next to cardinal flower (3½ ft) and inkberry 'Gem Box' (2½ ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- 7 plants in one group. Massed, one kind reads as a single shape. Scattered, it would look spotty.
Why now
- In flower for five weeks. From mid April to early May.
- Part of the bed's peak. With green-and-gold and yellow trout lily in late April: 3 kinds at once. No week has more.
- Leaves gone by midsummer. They die back and leave bare ground. A perennial that comes up late stands beside it, and grows over the gap.
Planned as a naturalistic planting: low grasses and groundcovers, the matrix, make up 45% of the planted ground. Cool colours (blue and pink) set against hot ones (yellow and red), with white to calm things between them. The front edge is finished with astilbe 'Sprite' and green-and-gold.
The planner's own design check: 10 Excellent, 7 Good. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where Virginia bluebells goes in a border
At 20 in it belongs in the middle of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is medium short (18 to 24 in).
Its job: drift. Planted in a small group of three or five, and repeated further along in the other number.
A spring ephemeral: it flowers and disappears. Plant it between hostas and ferns, which unfurl to fill the gap. Blue with the yellow of celandine poppy is a classic woodland pairing.
- Spring colour in woodland gardens
- Naturalising under deciduous trees
- Planting among hostas and ferns
What to plant with Virginia bluebells
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Celandine poppy: blue against yellow, opposite each other on the colour wheel, in flower together for four weeks; happy in the same moist soil.
- Hosta: its green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; bold leaves against its medium ones; happy in the same moist soil.
- Ostrich fern: its green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; tall enough (4 ft) to stand behind it.
Questions about Virginia bluebells
Does Virginia bluebells need sun or shade?
Virginia bluebells grows in part sun (4 to 6 hours of sun, including some afternoon sun), part shade (2 to 4 hours of sun, mostly in the morning) and shade (less than 2 hours of direct sun, or bright dappled light).
It wants soil that stays evenly moist, rich in organic matter, and a good soak in dry spells.
What zones does Virginia bluebells grow in?
USDA zones 3 to 8. It is hardy to zone 3, which means it survives winter nights down to about −30 °F (−34 °C).
Above zone 8 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does Virginia bluebells flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers mid April to early May. As a spring flower it moves about a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer, later where it is colder.
| Zone 3 | Late April to late May |
|---|---|
| Zone 4 | Mid April to mid May |
| Zone 5 | Mid April to early May |
| Zone 6 | Early April to early May |
| Zone 7 | Late March to late April |
| Zone 8 | Late March to mid April |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should Virginia bluebells be planted?
12 in (30 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 16 in (40 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 20 in (50 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many Virginia bluebells plants do I need?
At 12 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 12 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 11 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 38 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as a group of three or five, with a second group further along in the other number.
In the bed above, the planner used seven in one group.
Is Virginia bluebells poisonous to dogs and cats?
No toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats, horses or people, according to NC State Extension.
"Not toxic" is not "edible": a pet that eats a lot of any plant can be sick.
Do deer eat Virginia bluebells?
Mostly not. NC State lists it as resistant to rabbits. No plant is proof against a hungry deer in a hard winter, but this one is low on the menu.
What flowers after Virginia bluebells?
Virginia bluebells is over by early May. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Lady's mantle: from late May to early July, 18 in tall.
- Lily of the valley: from early May to late May, 8 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Sweet woodruff: from early May to early June, 8 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
What does Virginia bluebells look like in winter?
Virginia bluebells has long gone by winter: it dies down in summer, soon after flowering, and comes back in spring.
Is Virginia bluebells good for bees and butterflies?
Virginia bluebells is visited by pollinators, bees and hummingbirds.
It is native to the United States and Canada.
In these guides
- Plants that grow near black walnut
- Rabbit-resistant plants
- Pet-safe plants for shade
- Native perennials for pollinators
- Native plants for shade
- Garden plants native to Canada
- Plants for hummingbirds
- Plants for bees
- Plants with blue flowers
Zone guides: Zone 3 · Zone 4 · Zone 5 · Zone 6 · Zone 7 · Zone 8
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 20 in (50 cm) tall, 16 in (40 cm) wide
- Plant
- 12 in (30 cm) apart
- Height class
- Medium short (18 to 24 in)
- Place in the bed
- Middle
- Flowers
- Mid April to early May; hanging bells; blue
- Leaves
- Medium texture, summer-dormant; blue-green
- Shape
- Upright, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 3 to 8
- Light
- Part sun, part shade, shade
- Soil
- Rich, evenly moist
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- Light, in spring
- Family
- Boraginaceae
- Comes from
- Eastern Canada to North Central and Eastern United States
- Attracts
- Pollinators, bees, hummingbirds
- Stands up to
- Rabbits, black walnut
Checked against NC State Extension and VASCAN (plants of Canada). Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.