grandiflora Tried and True Native Selections Large-flowered Bellwort for the Mid-Atlantic

When planted en masse, graceful, nodding flowers create a lovely visage when they peek from under foliage, which also is attractive, especially to white-tailed deer. Even if deer are not a bother, foliage may disappear as temperatures heat up. Depending on where it grows, this native perennial* may act like an ephemeral and enter early dormancy.

Perennial Flowers En Masse** and Close-up

Height: 1½–2 feet

Spread: 1–1½ feet

Bloom Color: Yellow

Characteristics

Clump-forming, herbaceous perennial

Lance-shaped, parallel-veined, bright green, perfoliate leaves with fine white hairs underneath Dainty, 1–2-inch-long, nodding, yellow flowers with a somewhat twisted, bell-shape that bloom for about two weeks April to May

3-cell seed capsules with rounded lobes and tip

Sometimes forms colonies by

Attributes

Tolerates dry soil and drought; no serious pests or diseases though slugs may attack new growth

Deer frequently severely damage foliage

Ethnobotanic uses; edible when cooked

Attracts bees (bumble, mason, Halictid, Andrenid)

Growing and Maintenance Tips Excellent Replacement for

Soil Requirements: Well-drained, average Alliaria petiolata - Garlic Mustard

Light Requirements: Partial Shade, Shade Ficaria verna - Fig Buttercup

Water Requirements: Moist Ornithogalum - Star of Bethlehem

Easy-to-grow, low maintenance

In hot weather may display foliage die-back and dormancy characteristic of ephemerals

Use en masse in woodland gardens, shade *It is native in five MD counties (including Montgomery and Prince borders, and naturalized setting George’s) and mostly in PA’s southwest corner. In VA it is common in the mountains north to Rockingham County and infrequent in the southwest Piedmont. It is not native to NoVA or DC. Hardiness: USDA Zones 4–9 **Top image with Viola in foreground.

developed by Master Gardeners of Northern Virginia, serving Arlington and Alexandria Images by Mary Free, Quarry Shade Garden

Virginia Cooperative Extension programs and employment are open to all, regardless of age, color, disability, gender, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, political affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, veteran status, or any other basis protected by law. An equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Virginia State University, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture cooperating. Edwin J. Jones, Director, Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg; M. Ray McKinnie, Administrator, 1890 Extension Program, Virginia State, Petersburg.