Wildflower Wednesday

This week's Wildflower Wednesday featured flower is Virginia Bluebells.

Virginia Bluebells are a native spring wildflower that grows in moist woodlands, they are considered threatened in WI due to the loss of wetlands.

They are one of the very few plants that have true blue flowers.  They put on a colorful display in their short growing season with leaves that emerge a deep purple and turn to bright green and flowers that turn from pink to purple to blue and back to pink as they fade.

Thomas Jefferson grew Virginia Bluebells in his garden at Monticello, inspiring writers of that era to rename the flowers “Jefferson’s blue funnel flowers”.

Virginia Bluebells are sometimes called Lungwort. When early pioneers arrived and saw Virginia Bluebells, they mistakenly thought them to be similar to their native Lungwort, which was used to treat lung ailments.  They quickly learned that they were not an acceptable substitute.

Virginia Bluebells represent gratitude, humility, and tranquility.