FWIW, Mine are planted at the base of oak trees. They grow and multiply, but slowly. I'm not sure I would call them "flourishing", but having never planted them elsewhere, or, for that matter, having never even seen them in anyone else's garden, I don't know how to compare mine to others planted in different situations. Just this year I noticed about half a dozen new plants, a bit farther away from the originals, and they too have seeded - and are growing - under other oak trees. I do believe oaks are easier to plant under than other trees, so I don't know if that should be taken into account. Dee

Virginia bluebells (mertensia virginica) are native to our area, they like filtered shade. Like Prubo, I passed them over this spring (at NEWFS) for other things on my wishlist. They are one of the first wildflowers to bloom in the spring, but they are considered a spring ephermal(dormant in summer). So I'm trying to figure out what to plant with them, so I won't have a bear patch when they go dormant. When I was at the Garden in the Woods (about April 20th) they were in bloom at the same time as all the different spring phlox. I love hummingbirds and whatever they like gets pushed to the top of my wishlist. I thought the blue tubular flowers looked like one they'd be interested in. However, I had never heard of them being used to attract hummingbirds. Plus it seemed like they were blooming too early. Then when I started seeing hummingbirds at my feeder, (May 4th, to be exact)I realized I had no flowers blooming for them. They showed up a lot earlier than I had anticipated. So now I'm back to my original thought of bluebells being a good nectar source for the early hummers. I did find one website about native wildflowers that considered them a hummingbird flower. So that's enough for me to decide, I have to have them! Either by sowing seed this fall, or plants in the spring. I will probably do both, because I am impatient, and this way I'll have a few blooming right away. I did find plants available now, from a company I've had a good experience with. Here is a link that might be useful: Look under Mertensia virginica

Don't know about buying dry root Virginia bluebells, but the ones here (planted in spring) are long-term survivors in a sunny mixed perennial bed. As mad_gallica said, they are spring ephemerals and bloom here in May when the sun is not so high in the sky. Our summers can be quite hot and humid, but the Virginia bluebells are gone by then. I presume that they don't even need the protection from the summer sun which other spring blooming (non-ephemeral) perennials, like primulas, get underneath the taller sun-loving perennials of summer. May 25, last year.

Hi Tim. It's definitely Mertensia virginica, Virginia Bluebells. I read that variegated plants occur infrequently, and they are always unstable, producing regular offspring. They don't sell any variegated cultivars that I know of. The leaves could look that way for other reasons too, but it's probably just a mutation.