Tangled Branches: Cultivated
happenings in and around my zone 6b gardens in northern Virginia and in central Virginia
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Zillions of Virginia Bluebells
Yesterday afternoon the clouds lifted and I jumped in the car to go look at the Virginia Bluebells at Bull Run Park near Centreville. I fear I won't be able to adequately describe the scene, but I'll try.
As you slog along the muddy trail towards the river, the forest floor looks as if a sudden snow flurry just started to stick. The tiny white and pink Spring Beauties (Claytonia sp.) cover the ground on both sides of the trail. As you approach the Cub Run river, you see a haze of blue. For the full effect, click through the photos to Picasaweb and then click the magnifying glass at the top right of the photo for a larger view.
From the time you reach the river until the time you leave it, there are huge drifts of Virginia Bluebells (Mertensia virginica) all around you.
They crowd in at the sides of the trail and the dense stands continue far into the woods.
The flowers are lovely individually, but the sheer numbers of plants make an impression. There are thousands upon thousands of flowers here. I took 101 pictures, edited that down to 30 for posting on Picasaweb, and to 5 for showing here.
The stars of the show are the Bluebells, but in addition to them and the Spring Beauties, there are a few other wildflowers to be found. I didn't have to hunt to find Toothwort, Purple Violets, Yellow Violets, and a personal favorite - Trout Lilies aka Dogtooth Violet (Erythronium americanum, I assume).
Midweek, midafternoon, I had the place practically to myself, although there were three intrepid women pushing two toddlers in strollers. Considering the mud, this was a real accomplishment. Depending on weather, the Bluebells should be in good form for another week. I last visited the park exactly two years ago and posted a very similar review. I think my photos from that trip show that the flowers were blooming a bit ahead of this year's. If you go, just be prepared for a very muddy trail.
Labels: bluebells, wildflowers
9 Comments:
im really glad you posted this. i bought native wildflowers at Lowes last weekend and one was virginia bluebells and one was the trout lily. i may try to go back and pick up more now that i've seen this mass planting that looks so beautiful.
I can believe you took 100 photos - it's so beautiful!
Fantastic! I dream of having that many Mertensia/V. bluebells around our place...we'll see if the four plants I put in last year took hold or not. I've had trouble with them before....
Gina: I'm going to have to take a closer look at Lowe's plant offerings! Supposedly, the bluebells will spread rapidly if they're happy. I planted some in my dry woods many years ago and they've only increased slightly. Now that I have a place with more moisture, I'm going to move them to this more hospitable location.
MMD: After the first few photos, I kept telling myself that I didn't have all day to spend at this and I was only going to take another picture if I saw something really spectacular and, well.....I thought I was pretty restrained. ;-)
Jodi: I hope yours grow well, but if they don't, you'll still have those blue poppies. ;-)
Zillions... indeed. WOW.
(Sorry for the short comment. I'm just kind of... speechless at this sight. Amazing.)
Blackswamp Girl: That's exactly how I felt the first time I saw it. I had no idea of the enormous size of these drifts of flowers before I saw them in person.
I guess the bluebells look best in a natural setting. I've been having second thoughts about the ones we have in and amongst other plants. Somehow the big leaves look somewhat unnatural in a small group?
Very lovely trout lily. We planted some about 3 years ago and have never seen either plant or flower. I'm hoping they're like trillium and take a long time to become established enough to send out some greenery or flowers though I remain less optimistic as the years go by.
Ki: My home Virginia Bluebells are backed by some pale yellow narcissus and behind that some white/orange narcissus. In between the two are hostas, which later on will help disguise the messy foliage of the bluebells and narcissus. I'm happy enough with this grouping, although the bluebells are going to be moved to central Virginia soon.
I know what you mean about the scale of foliage upsetting the look of a grouping though. I have a bottlebrush buckeye near a Japanese maple and an azalea, and it just looks gangly and awkward there with its big foliage and thick branches. That's another candidate for moving/removing this year.
I've given up on any trout lilies in my dry northern Virginia woods, but with more moisture in the central Virginia location I plan to try these again.
We've been enjoying our early Spring bloomers these past week & a half! I Love my Virginia Bluebells! Someday, my photos may look like yours! ;-)
Because of my woodland yard, there are Spring Beauties and Trout Lilies everywhere (even in the grass in the front yard!) :-)
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