On a Hunt for the Bluebells

from Song of the Bluebells

Sweet bluebells we, 

Mid flowers of the lea,

The likest in hue to heaven

Our bonnets so blue

Are tinged with the dew

That drops from the sky at even.

Our bloom more sweet

Than dark violet,

Or tulip's purple stain,

At every return

Of the dew-breathing morn,

Grows brighter and brighter again.

George Darley (1795-1846)

It is that wonderful time of year when the bluebells are blooming and forming carpets of blue in many of the shady areas around us. I like to look out for them wherever we are and if I get chance go and visit one or two places where I might find some great displays. 

This year I found them in abundance on a visit to Knebworth House and Gardens over the May bank holiday weekend. Some were in leafy glades as we wandered and strolled around in the early May sunshine, some were in more formal areas, mixed amongst the tulips. 

A hue of blue against the tree stump! 

A little white 'bluebell' species amongst the blue! 

I'm lucky to have a few bluebell areas in my garden, they are one of the first signs of new life in late winter and early spring as their foliage pushes up through the stones beneath one of our front windows. They usually start appearing in January and this year the first one flowered at the end of March. It is the earliest I have seen this happen in the eight years we have lived here. 

A little cluster of bluebells that always appears under our front window

We always get a lovely show of bluebells in one of our back garden borders too. It is a shady north west facing area and they come out in abundance once they flower. We planted some orange, spring flowering wallflowers just in front of them to give a startling contrast once they bloomed. 

It is one of those uplifting times of year, when the bluebells come out, there is a sense that summer will be arriving soon; a sense that there is the whole summer stretching right out there in front of us; a sense that there is much fun to come and enjoy as the nights get longer and the weather gets warmer. 

From The Bluebells

Tonight from deeps of loneliness I wake in wistful wonder

To a sudden sense of brightness, an immanence of blue - 

O are there bluebells swaying in the shadowy coppice yonder,

Shriven with the dawning and the dew? 

Lucia C Markham (late 19th-early 20th century)