Wildflower (forb) · Boraginaceae
Virginia bluebells
Mertensia virginica
Virginia bluebells is recorded as native to 23 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 575 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Virginia bluebells at a glance
- Native in
- 575 counties, across 23 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4b PLANTS minimum temperature −28°F
- Mature height
- 2.3 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Tolerates shade High water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 4b. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −28°F; zone 4b winters bottom out at −25°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Virginia bluebells is recorded as native to 23 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 575 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 575 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 8 counties
- Arkansas 7 counties
- Delaware 1 county
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Georgia 4 counties
- Illinois 89 counties
- Indiana 41 counties
- Kentucky 61 counties
- Maine 1 county
- Massachusetts 1 county
- Michigan 6 counties
- Minnesota 8 counties
- Mississippi 1 county
- Missouri 61 counties
- New Jersey 9 counties
- New York 21 counties
- North Carolina 2 counties
- Ohio 68 counties
- Pennsylvania 45 counties
- Tennessee 41 counties
- Virginia 55 counties
- West Virginia 31 counties
- Wisconsin 13 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Forb/herb
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 2.3 ft
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth form
- Single Stem
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Moderate
- Active growth period
- Spring
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Tolerant (tolerates shade)
- Moisture use
- High water use
- Drought tolerance
- Low
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- Low
- Precipitation range
- 26 to 54 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Medium and fine
- pH range
- 4.5 to 8
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Medium
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- High
- Minimum root depth
- 4 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −28°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 100
- Fire tolerance
- None
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Blue
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Spring
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Not recorded
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Boraginaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- MEVI3
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Mertensia virginica (PLANTS symbol MEVI3).
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources