Several specimens of Virginia Bluebells, Mertensia virginica are flowering now in full sun near the landscaped garden area at Hilton Pond North; since they are most commonly found in moist woodlands and shaded floodplains we suspect they were planted here by previous owners. That's okay by us because they are native and quite pleasing to the eye. Perennial members of the Borage Family (Boraginaceae), they’re named in honor of German botanist Franz Carl Mertens, who never actually came to visit the plant's original range from Ontario to Alabama.
Virginia Bluebells' funnel-shaped flowers, which begin as pink buds and open into brilliant sky blue blossoms, are a striking signal of early spring. The color change comes from pH changes in the petals as the flower matures. Some ecologists suggest this may serve to advertise nectar readiness to pollinators, but we wonder in this case if it's not just coincidental. Pollination is by long-tongued bees (including Bumblebees) and small butterflies; early arriving Ruby-throated Hummingbirds visit the blooms at a time when few prolific nectar sources are available, so hummingbird lovers would do well to install a few of these plants.
Like most spring ephemerals, Virginia Bluebells send up leaves that photosynthetically fuel production of flowers that, in turn, set seed and die within a short period. Everything above ground soon withers and dies, adding organic matter to the soil, and by late spring there's scarcely a sign the plants were even there.
So there you have our 2025 spring snapshot of this year's early blooming wildflowers at Hilton Pond North. We'll be on the trails looking for their successors as weather warms and the seasons progress.
