Virginia Bluebells, Mertensia virginica
Click here to view photos from 2008 Virginia Bluebell tours.

Virginia bluebells are one of the prettiest and most popular wildflowers in Northern Virginia. Beginning in mid-April, bluebells light up riverbanks and announce that spring is here.

Virginia bluebells thrive in rich floodplain soils. At Merrimac Farm, one of the largest colonies of Virginia Bluebells in Northern Virginia carpet the floodplain along nearly one mile of Cedar Run, presenting a spectacular display of blue every year in mid-April.

Virginia Bluebell's showy, bell-shaped blooms turn from pink to blue as they mature, then back to pink after pollination. Some blossoms may remain pink and occasionally a white blossom even can be seen. Virginia Bluebells reproduce from seed, pollinated by bees, or spread from rhizomes, roots that serve an underground reproductive structures.

Virginia Bluebells grace our riverbanks for only a few short weeks each year. Virginia Bluebells are ephemeral. They bloom in early spring while the tree canopy is open and more light reaches the forest floor. Shortly after blooming the foilage begins to die; Virginia Bluebells disappear completely by early summer when the tree canopy closes.