Photo: Murray Fagg, CC BY 3.0 au (via Wikimedia Commons)

Royal Bluebell

Wahlenbergia gloriosa

Also known as Australian Bluebell, Royal Bluebell of the Alps

At a glance

Family

Campanulaceae (bellflower family)

Type

Herbaceous perennial alpine wildflower

Parts used

Not traditionally used medicinally or culinarily; grown and admired for its flowers only

Size

Low, spreading mat to about 6 to 8 inches (15 to 20 cm) tall

Bloom

Summer, typically December through February in its native Southern Hemisphere range

Habitat

Alpine and subalpine grasslands, open woodlands, and rocky slopes of the Australian Alps

Acquisition

Grow

This plant in HerbSense

Key benefits

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Brightens alpine rock gardens

Draws native bees and butterflies

Long, cheerful summer bloom

Hardy in cold, exposed sites

Traditional uses

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Royal Bluebell has never been a kitchen or medicine cabinet herb. Its real story is one of place and pride: this small nodding wildflower grows wild across the high, wind-scoured meadows of the Australian Alps, in New South Wales, Victoria, and the Australian Capital Territory, where it was named the ACT's official floral emblem in 1982. Early botanists and alpine walkers prized it simply for the way its violet-blue bells seemed to glow against granite and snow grass. Today it is grown far more often in gardens than it is gathered from the wild, valued as a tough, pretty groundcover rather than for any traditional remedy.

How to grow & use it

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✦ Growing guide
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Pairs well with

✦Native grasses like snow grass (Poa species)
✦Alpine daisies (Brachyscome species)

Substitutes

✦Other low-growing Wahlenbergia species for a similar alpine bluebell look

Choose it when

“For the hush of a mountain meadow, brought down to a garden bed of your own.”

Did you know?

Royal Bluebell was chosen as the floral emblem of the Australian Capital Territory in 1982, making it one of the few Australian state or territory emblems that is a true high-country alpine specialist rather than a lowland plant.

Safety

Not used as food or medicine; it is a protected wildflower in parts of its native range, so choose nursery-grown plants rather than digging up wild ones.