True blue flowers! Who doesn’t love them?
One of the prettiest little bulbs in the Smith County Master Gardener bulb sale is the very dependable perennial Spanish Bluebell. These great border flowers, properly known as Hyacinthoides hispanica do extremely well in the mostly acid soil of East Texas.
There is an important distinction between our Spanish bluebells and the English woodland flower called bluebells. English bluebells bear their flowers along one side of a tall curving stem. They do not do well in our area.
The Spanish bluebells that grow well here, produce their flowers along both sides of tall straight stems of up to 15 inches. Each stem carries 8-10 one-inch bell-shaped florets. The most prolific of the species are the blue ones called ‘Excelsior’ which can be pure cobalt blue to a rosy purple blue. We will also have some soft pink ones and a pure white variety. All three colors look wonderful in a mixed border with the blue ones being predominant.
Spanish bluebells grow from a small smooth white potato-like bulb which increases in size each year and produces offsets. They like our winter rains and come into bloom around Easter time each year. They generally do not need any fertilizer and return dependably. Our hot dry summers present no problem. They are small and easy to move and spread around. Give them morning sun to light shade and they will be happy for years. Another advantage to bluebells is that the foliage dies back fairly quickly and comes away easily by early summer leaving no trace of your bulbs until about March of the following year.
There’s not much to dislike about Spanish Bluebells, they show up with late-blooming daffodil varieties and continue the display of beautiful spring bulbs through April. You may purchase them through our on-line sale beginning October 9 and if not sold out, again at our big conference and sale day October 21 at Pollard United Methodist Church in Tyler.
Please join us at our 25th Annual Smith County Master Gardener “From Bulbs to Blooms” Conference and Sale. The web store opens October 9, followed by the in-person sale and conference on October 21. Hope to see you there!
See our Smith County Master Gardener Facebook page for additional information at www.facebook.com/SmithCountyMasterGardeners/ or visit our website at www.txmg.org/smith/events.
