Virginia Bluebells at Bull Run Regional Park

Written from an article by Matt Felperin, abridged and published by the National Park Service.

Few wildflowers in the Chesapeake Bay watershed stir more excitement than the Virginia bluebell (Mertensia virginica) — perhaps because blue is so rare in plants and animals. The flower grows across eastern North America, but some of its biggest stands are in its namesake state — among the finest at Bull Run Regional Park in Centreville, Virginia.

When to go

• Peak bloom varies by year, but the first two weeks of April should bring plenty of flowers carpeting the floodplains of Cub Run and Bull Run, along the park's 1.8-mile bluebell loop trail.
• Best time of day: sunrise — early light on the flowers, and no crowds (they build by mid-morning).
• Best weather for photos: overcast skies, which keep the sun from washing out the colors.
• The park is open sunrise to sunset; rustic cabins and campsites near the trail can be reserved.

How the flowers change

• March: leaves come up deep purple, then turn green before flowering.
• Buds start pink, turning blue as they open, as the pH in their cells changes.
• Like hydrangeas, mature flowers range from blue to the less common pink, depending on how acid the soil is.
• Rarer still are white flowers, which start as white buds.

Other spring flowers

Along the trail you'll also find spring ephemerals such as Virginia springbeauty (Claytonia virginica), cutleaf toothwort (Cardamine concatenata) and yellow trout-lily (Erythronium americanum) — and the burgundy flowers of pawpaw trees (Asimina triloba).

Wildlife of the flooded forest

The wide, often-flooded floodplains are rich habitat:

• uncommon birds of swamps and flooded forests — red-headed woodpeckers and rusty blackbirds — reliably seen in bluebell season;
• toward the end of peak bloom, early neotropical migrants: northern parulas, prothonotary warblers and yellow-throated warblers;
• on mild, wet March nights, a chorus of spring peepers, upland chorus frogs, wood frogs and American toads;
• two mole salamanders, the spotted and marbled, breeding here.

Guided walks and photography workshops for the bluebells can be booked with the NOVA Parks roving naturalist.

Sources

Based on "View Virginia Bluebells and More at Bull Run Regional Park," an abridged article originally written by Matt Felperin, published by the National Park Service and in the public domain; rewritten in hubnx's own words. The author's photograph is not reproduced.