Diohio's Garden

About this plant

Genus: Mertensia.

Species: Mertensia virginica.

We have a colony of Virginia Bluebells growing wild in our back woods. I've transplanted a few to the yard and now I have many colonies thriving there. It's a native perennial to Ohio, and is another favorite spring wildflower of mine. The delicate flowers remind me of little girls' petticoats. Some times a clump will produce all pink blooms, and there have even been pure white ones found in the wild. Most of the times the buds are pink and they turn blue as they open. It is also called Lungwort, Virginia Cowslip or Hokoh Bluebells. They like wet, shade, clearings and at edges of deciduous woods. I like them between hostas because the plant completely fades away by summer.