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Mertensia virginica | Virginia Bluebells

Mertensia virginica | Virginia Bluebells

Boraginaceae (Borage or Forget-me-not Family) (Pronounced Bor-AJ-ee-NEE-cee-eye)

Pronounced Mer-TEN-see-uh Vir-GEN-i-cah

This genus is named after Franz Carl Mertens who was a professor of botany at Bremen and died in 1831.

This Bluebell is a perennial which is much different than the Spanish and English Bluebells which are bulbs.

I bought this plant from the local native plant sale. It is a native Missouri wildflower, so look for it on the trails when hiking. It gets to a height of 12 to 24 inches tall.

Flowers start as pink buds and open up into blue bell-shaped flowers. The foliage is first purple but then turns green. The foliage dies back to the ground by Summer, so be sure to mark where it is if you do not want to plant over it with something else.

Blooms last about 3 weeks.

I bought this plant in 2020 at the Missouri native plant sale at the Missouri Conservation building in Cape Girardeau.

Common Name(s): Blue and Pink Ladies Bluebells Chiming Bells Eastern Bluebells Kentucky Bluebells, Lungwort Oysterleaf, Mertensia Roanoke Bells Smooth Lungwort, Virginia Bluebells, Virginia Cowslip, Virginia Spiderwort

Previously known as: Mertensia pulmonarioides, Pulmonaria virginica

It does look a lot like my Lungwort and it is in the same family, so I can see why it has the other names referencing the same. It was also previously named "Pulmonaria" like the Lungwort. It must have been reclassified via DNA testing in the 1990s like so many others.

2024

These photos are earlier on before they bloomed and were standing tall.

This is early when the buds begin to peak out and are still pink.

2023

2022

They look great with the purple Hyacinth! I transplanted everything to the back of the bed in 2024 and they are still next to each other, but not as lovely as this photo. I see they are really standing tall in this photo.

2021

2020

It seems that it bloomed the first year I planted it! And it started out one small leaf in a small container!