Here are some photos I just took in my yard of Spanish Bluebells and why I consider them aggressive weeds. Please note that I never planted them, they have spread by seeding and I've been digging them out twenty years....all these beds were lawn when we bought the house but there were some Spanish Bluebells in the neighbor's yard and on the side of the house by a big Hydrangea that seeded....Yes, I know I've got other weeds too ;) They grow up into the crowns of other plants and are very hard to dig out. They just finished blooming so they aren't as easy to see in the photos. They'll turn yellow in a couple of weeks and get very slimy and attract slugs like crazy too.

I have a patch of them next to a gravel path, and they reseed into the gravel constantly. I move some of the seedlings each spring before they go dormant, and I can still find them; and never have had a problem getting them to live. They have a taproot that looks like a carrot. The big ones are hard to move, but the babies are never a problem. Just dig them up and put them where you want them, and forget them. They do like lots of light tho not direct sun, and don't need any special care. It is a good idea to mark where you've put them so you don't accidently dig them up or plant something on top of them, tho I did inadvertantly plant a hosta in the middle of one patch. Both plants are fine, and the bluebells came up anyway. I'm sure they are putting lots of seed out for you, but it may not germinate due to good weeding or cultivating practices. The seed falls into the gravel path here and doesn't get dislodged before it germinates. It does take 2 or 3 years for the babies grow up big enough to bloom, and they are easily mistaken for weeds until then. It's kind of a myth that they need rich woodland soil and lots of moisture. They do like average woodland soil, and moisture in the spring when they are growing, but when they are dormant average rainfall is fine. They even survive a drought without a problem. Sandy

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

Interesting! All variegated foliage can be described as "chimeral". And all kinds of plants are tissue cultured, not just hostas. Its hard to tell from the picture, but on the leafs that are both green and white, does it appear that the green is in the middle of the leaf and the white forms and edge, irregular or otherwise? If the plant has this type of pattern there is a very good chance it could be propagated easily via tissue culture. If the variegation is more irregular, it probably won't tissue culture well, but it can be bred to a more regular variegation. This looks like a potententially commercial find- the sensitivity to sun isn't a big deal since this plant can exist in full shade. It may seem harsh, but if I had this opportunity, I would allow only the variegated part of the plant go to seed, eliminating some of the other existing plants and allowing only the offspring of this plant to go on to reproduce again. The next generation could prove interesting if the first one is not (variegation often is not recessive).