I've had the same question. I've already got an established bed of Virginia Bluebells and have been overplanting with annuals. This year, I planted dicentra spectablis...I'll let you know next spring if it works? My thought was that the bleeding hearts would grow bushy enough to hide the rather large bluebell foliage as it was deteriorating.

That sounds like a good idea, definitely let me know how it works.

My smallish patch of bluebells coexists nicely with hosta. The bluebells are pretty much "over" by the time the hostas get going (zone 6B here). I have dicentra in the same general area; they ALSO go dormant, somewhat later than the bluebells. Actually I have some columbine and heuchera in there too; those stay put all season (as basal foliage) so they have to be spaced with the mature hosta size and footprint in mind.

I seeded the area with forget-me-not and columbine. Bloom roughly the same time, but the columbine holds on blooming longer and provides excellent leaf cover for the bluebell blades as they finish.

Hi,

I added some shade plants last year, but had such a large area to fill that they look a little lost. [g] I was also trying to fill a border in the sun and was concentrating more on that this year. But in the fall I would like to add a few things to that shade border. Is fall a time when you can find plants for a shady area?

I had considered getting virginia bluebells last year but passed them over, undecided whether they would fit what I was trying to do. I don't want something that will reseed or spread by roots under ground and get out of control. I also wonder what the deteriorating leaves are like? Are they going to be something I have to work hard at to disguise? Do they take a long time to 'disappear'? Can they be considered native to New England?

I have Phlox divaricata Blue Moon and Tiarella, Diecentra, Hosta, Heuchera, Columbine, Epimedium that I want to plant it with. I really don't want to plant annuals.

BTW, Virginia Bluebells, take some sun or like full shade? If they are in a shady area, what annuals can you overplant with? Impatiens?

Thanks
:-)

The bluebell foliage is soft and floppy - not stiff and troublesome like tulips and daffs. I've never felt it needed to be disguised in any way. A good place to see them in bloom in April (and learn more) is the Garden in the Woods (NE Wildflower Soc) in Framingham, MA. They do spread on their own via seeding - never as much as I would like! Unlikely that plants would be available in the fall, as they'd be dormant then.

Thanks prubo :-)

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

Also, White Flower Farms has always had them available in the fall. They usually offer some type of "collection" of daffs & Virginia bluebells. That's where I got my starts many years ago. They bloom at the same time as my hoop petticoat daffs and are interplanted in my garden. For me, they start blooming between the second/third week in April & continue for about 4-5 weeks (a good long season). Then, the foliage takes about a month to disappear...it withers much quicker than daff or tulip foliage.

flutterbug..
thanks so much for that link and the great info about availability for the fall. I am excited to have a way to get some. I did the same thing, I passed over them at NEWFS and got phlox and ferns and tiarella instead. So this will be a great addition. And if they might attract hummingbirds, all the better.

tricia...
thanks for the second possible source for these plants and always like to know when it will bloom so I can plan what to grow with it.

great help all the way around...thanks :-)