Virginia Bluebells just Beginning

The air was still today. A very welcome respite from the whipping wind of the past few days. The warmish spring weather and bright sunshine called to me. My camera and I roamed looking for ephemerals making their appearance, and I returned with many images to add to my stash.

One discovery, Virginia Bluebells (Mertensia virginica). At this point in their short lives I find they are not showing their exceptional blue, but glorious purple and brilliant pink.

The exceptional blue I mention in the Virginia Bluebell is something special since only 10% of the world’s 280,000 flowering plant species have blooms that are truly blue. For those of us that are lovers of the color blue, that makes this one a special flower.

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Brenda Clements Jones

Brenda is a certified Virginia Master Naturalist, a Habitat Defender for Shenandoah National Park, and a devoted fan of Mother Nature. She lives in a cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Shenandoah National Park, and hikes up to the higher elevations of her mountain often to see what nature is up to. Her constant hiking companion is a camera that captures nature as it unfolds through the seasons. It’s her goal to share the natural world around her through her photographs.