The bluebells are blooming
Fans of the flower gather in Farmington every year
FARMINGTON, NY — In the hamlet of Mertensia, off Mertensia Road in Mertensia Park, you will find Virginia mertensia.
Bluebells, as they are known, and lots of them.
This time of year, lilacs are showered with accolades in the Rochester area, but bluebells by the hundreds line the well-worn, third-of-a-mile Rotary Centennial Walking Path through the park and along the rushing waters of Mud Creek.
Their fans sing the blues, in a happy way.
On Saturday, plein air artists, many stocked up with shades of blue paints, will set up easels in the park. Inspiration abounds.
You also might find people like Roger Beyer, who with his wife comes to the park every year around this time just to see the bluebells.
“It’s beautiful,” Beyer said. “The blue is striking. It’s hard to explain unless you see it. Just fields of it.”
A group of volunteers are working to make sure the bluebells thrill visitors for years to come, and they do put in some hard work.
What are bluebells?
But first, a bit more about the nowyou-see-’em-now you-don’t bluebell.
Bluebells are a “much-loved ephemeral,” common in floodplains and rich forests of the East Coast, according to the Finger Lakes Native Plant Society.
Visitors will find other spring ephemerals, such as the trout lily and trillium and “loads and loads of spring flowers,” said Laura Ouimette, of the Canandaigua Botanical Society.
“Bluebells definitely steal the show,” Ouimette said.
Bluebells got their name because the flower resembles a cluster of bells. And they’re blue, brilliantly so in some flowers although some may sport a baby blue hue.
The bluebells typically are only in full bloom for one or two weeks, usually in early May. And in recent years, their peak has come a week or two earlier than the Mother’s Day weekend showcase of past years.
Ouimette theorizes that warmer winters the last few years have meant the bluebells are blooming earlier. But, who knows?
“Next year it could be a week late,” Ouimette said. “It’s always been Mother’s Day weekend that you could be sure they were here. The last two years they were on their way out by Mother’s Day weekend.”
How the Canandaigua Botanical Society helps bluebells
The Canandaigua Botanical Society calls the park its home base. Its members, accompanied by several youngsters chipping in to earn community service hours for school, recently spent time removing lesser celandine, an invasive species with yellow flowers that can crowd out the bluebells.
In fact, they may already have the bluebells seeing yellow.
Bluebells seemed to have been more in abundance a decade ago than they have in the last two or three years, according to Ouimette.
That’s why, armed with digging tools and bags, these volunteer got to work removing the bleubells’ nemesis. Last year, volunteers took to the earth after the bloom. This year, they got an earlier start, in March.
“Let’s get out and get as many as we can,” Ouimette said.
Amanda Barney, a sixth-grader from Canandaigua who is a Scout with Troop 6029, took the advice to heart. She wanted to help because the woods are so beautiful, and she wants to keep them that way.
At the time, Amanda said she couldn’t wait to see the blooms.
“I will be excited because I helped make it this pretty,” Amanda said.
Hurry, you don’t want to miss the bluebells
Social media is full of stories from folks who make a point to see the bluebells every Mother’s Day. But many others are unaware of what’s just beyond their backdoor.
Take it from Beyer.
“I think more people should know,” Beyer said. “When I come the first week of May, I don’t see a lot of people other than the artists scattered around. I don’t think a lot of people know about it.”
Especially knowing the bluebells’ time in the sun is only for a short period of a week or two, Ouimette encourages people to get out and have a look.
“It’s just beautiful,” Ouimette said.