Beautiful but fleeting, spring ephemerals are coming and going in their age-old order. Snowdrops and crocus have faded and daffodils are just finishing up their days in the spring sun. Tulips and grape hyacinths are having their moment now.
Less common in the home garden are Virginia's famous bluebells. On Sunday, I went with my family to the Merrimac Farm Bluebell Festival at Merrimac Farm National Wildlife Management Area near Nokesville. The bluebells were a blue and green carpet stretching through the woods and wetlands.
The clusters of flowers start as pink buds and as they open turn crystal blue. The foliage is a ripe green with round, floaty leaves. Interspersed among the clumps of bluebells were small white wildflowers that made a delicate contrast to the larger, more robust bluebells.
The festival was host to Master Naturalists, Master Gardeners and other conservation-minded outdoorsy types. A Master Gardener who raises bluebells in her garden was selling the plants and I purchased two for my back yard.
Fingers crossed for my own tiny bluebell festival next spring!
Comments