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Plant Bluebells Now To Ring In Next Spring

By Phran Novelli

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Get 'em before they're gone! Some of the prettiest flowers are also the most fleeting.

Spring ephemerals - plants that have their day (or a few weeks) and then melt away by summer - are particularly precious, and perhaps the most stunning among them are our native Virginia Bluebells, Latin name, Mertensia virginica.

They have large, soft, almost lettucey-looking leaves that stand about 18" high at this time of year and put on a great floral display; then they go away. To have bluebells in your garden next year, you really have to look to buy them now, since they'll soon disappear from nurseries too; because who wants to buy a pot that looks empty, (even if the grower swears there's a plant under there!)?

So plant them now and they'll quickly disappear and you'll forget all about them until their lavender/pinky buds burst open into a brilliant blue to brighten up a shady spot and lift your spirits next spring.

Learn more about bluebells and some other pretty plants that disappear for the year right at MtCubaCenter.org.

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