My Love Affair with Virginia Bluebells (Spring Ephemerals Part 2)

Another wildflower hike yesterday rewarded me with what I had been yearning for:  carpets of Virginia Bluebells spreading across the flood plains of the  Cowpasture River.   Virginia Bluebells (Mertensia virginica) bloom at that elevation (1200 feet or so) in April.  They grow one to two feet tall, have pretty, soft leaves and seem to prefer very moist areas.  But their most striking and endearing feature is, of course, the beautiful flowers.  Their buds are a lavender pink which turns into a light or dark skyblue color when they open fully.  I even found a few white ones.  Their light blue color reminded me of Forget-me-nots, that sweet baby blue, clear-sky color that’s impossible to forget.

Buds just about to open

Bee on whitishbluebells

The flowers droop so you have to hold them up to see what’s inside, or else lie on the florest floor and look up (I did both):

Bluebells from underneath

Wandering along another part of the river, there was a narrow path lined with Bluebells, and some of them growing right in the middle of the path.  I thought of a new blessing:

“May your path always be lined with Bluebells.”

Bluebells lining forest path

And just because I’ve got them, here are a few more Bluebell reigning scenes:

Carpeting the forest floor

Bluebells between trees