All I can tell you is that mine come up every year. "Virginia Bluebells" is what this kind is called, and yep, purplish leaves!

-Marie

Perhaps he meant that they die back over the summer. But they always come back in the spring. Mine (Virginia Bluebells) are purplish when they first emerge too. My Alpine bluebells come up green.

Rick

It's funny... many of the ones I started from seed last year, and transplanted out during the summer, stayed green all winter. Must have been very protected. I haven't spotted new growth on them yet, but they are definitely alive. These are the first bluebells I've had, so I don't have any previous experience to draw on.

I just remember the nursery person saying that in order to have them come back i should wait till they go to seed and shake them out right in that spot. she made it sound like it'd be hard to make them seed. I'm pretty sure she was wrong though because nothing else that has come from seed is even up at all.

It's funny but when I sent the question at around 1pm those little purple leaves were about 2" up. Then at about 6:30 I looked again and they had unfolded and were up another inch.
I love spring!

I was told last year by a fellow gardenweb gardener that Virginia Blue Bells are a true perennial with a fiberous root, not a bulb. They will spread by seed that the flowerhead produces. My experience is that after blooming, the flowerhead dries and pops open spilling its seed. The leaves are purplish when they first come up, as are the blooms when they first appear later turning blue. Hope this helps.
Chris

Many plants in their juvenile stages will tend toward evergreen leaves. As they mature, they may or may not keep this trait. True, VB's are not bulbous, but do have thicker rhizomes. Not like an iris, but certainly thicker than regular roots.