The bluebells have reached that awkward stage; the flowers are just about gone, but the plants haven’t keeled over. They are not at their most attractive, although from the street, they are back to being an amorphous blob of green instead of a haze of blue by the back fence. There are hostas and arrow-leaved asters among the bluebells, so that when the bluebells finally do keel over, they will be hidden. It’s a little hard to believe right now.
The pistils are very long and persistent, but after watching over the last few years for seedpods that never appeared, I decided it was time for a closer look. There are no seedpods! The seeds are nestled in the sepals, hiding. The pistils are about as thick as a cat’s whisker.
Here’s what they looked like two days later.
I will try to remember to keep checking their development. The seedlings are quite large, so I would expect the seeds to be as well.