Plant Library

Other Names:  Wood Hyacinth

Description:

This little spring-blooming cutie is a fantastic garden choice for its grassy foliage and dainty blue bells that rise above the leaves on stalks, every bit as pretty as it sounds; will slowly naturalize in the garden, tends to go dormant over the summer

Ornamental Features

Spanish Bluebell features dainty spikes of violet bell-shaped flowers with white overtones and blue stripes rising above the foliage in early spring. Its small grassy leaves remain green in color throughout the season.

Landscape Attributes

Spanish Bluebell is an herbaceous perennial with an upright spreading habit of growth. Its relatively fine texture sets it apart from other garden plants with less refined foliage.

This is a relatively low maintenance plant, and usually looks its best without pruning, although it will tolerate pruning. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Spanish Bluebell is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Mass Planting
• Border Edging
• General Garden Use
• Naturalizing And Woodland Gardens
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Spanish Bluebell will grow to be only 6 inches tall at maturity extending to 12 inches tall with the flowers, with a spread of 6 inches. When grown in masses or used as a bedding plant, individual plants should be spaced approximately 5 inches apart. Its foliage tends to remain low and dense right to the ground. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 5 years. As an herbaceous perennial, this plant will usually die back to the crown each winter, and will regrow from the base each spring. Be careful not to disturb the crown in late winter when it may not be readily seen! As this plant tends to go dormant in summer, it is best interplanted with late-season bloomers to hide the dying foliage.

This plant does best in full sun to partial shade. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This species is not originally from North America. It can be propagated by division.

Spanish Bluebell is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor pots and containers. It is often used as a 'filler' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination, providing a mass of flowers against which the larger thriller plants stand out. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.