Uvularia grandiflora – Bellwort


COMMON NAME: Bellwort, Merrybells
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Uvularia grandiflora – comes from Latin and refers to the way
the flowers hang as in the human uvula and to the large flowers.
FLOWER: Lemon-yellow bell-shaped with slightly twisted petals.
BLOOMING PERIOD: Late April to May lasting about two weeks.
SIZE: 8 to 20 inches
BEHAVIOR: First year seedlings have 2-3 tiny leaves and grow only a couple of
inches high. Roots may be divided in early spring or in fall dormancy. Seeds are
spread by ants.
SITE REQUIREMENTS: Dry to medium woods and forests in full to part shade.
Bellwort works well as a mass planting under shade trees or along wood margins.
NATURAL RANGE: Quebec to Manitoba, south to Georgia and Oklahoma, all of
Wisconsin.
SPECIAL FEATURES: The bell-shaped flowers tend to hang down as well as the
leaves. The base of each leaf completely surrounds the stem.
SUGGESTED CARE: Cover in the winter with hardwood leaves, don’t try to move
very much. Bellwort is vulnerable to deer grazing.
COMPANION PLANTS: White baneberry, rattlesnake fern, and spring ephemerals
such as spring beauty, blue cohosh, toothwort, Dutchman’s breeches, hepatica and
wild geranium.