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Fourteen Favorites Among the Perennials: Mertensia

Mertensia Mertensia virginica is known both as the American blue-bell and as the Virginia cowslip. Growing wild in numerous sections of the country, within recent years it has been naturalized in many gardens. It comes into bloom with the tulips and the poets narcissus and gives a particularly happy effect when planted with them. The drooping panicles of bloom are of clear blue when first open, changing to a soft shade of pinkish lavender before they fade. Mertensia may be planted in early spring just after growth has started or in September. It prefers a moist, peaty soil, its natural habitat being along river banks, but it seems to adapt itself cheerfully to ordinary garden conditions. After it has finished blooming the plant has a peculiar habit of disappearing entirely. In wild plantings it is naturally left undisturbed, but when planted in garden borders care must be taken that the roots are not too drastically disturbed during cultivation.

Mertensia may also be forced into winter bloom indoors and is welcome at a time when few blue flowers are available. The roots should be dug up and potted in October, being stored in a cold frame with a light protection of leaves. The pots should be brought into the house about the middle of January and growth will soon start. They require abundant moisture and a comparatively low temperature.