Take a Walk in the Woods at Bluebell Time

There is nothing that can beat the glory of a woodland carpeted in a swathe of bluebells in spring. This year's bluebells are absolutely stunning and have been in bloom for quite a few weeks now. When the weather was hot the other weekend and we visited Mardley Heath Nature Reserve near Welwyn in Hertfordshire, they were especially beautiful as they were fully opened in their thousands towards the sunshine and their perfume gave off wafts of sweet scent as we walked through the woods. 

Our English bluebells with their violet blue hues and tubular flowers, which appear only down one side of the stem, are a protected species under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. This forbids any harvesting of bluebells from woodland for commercial purposes. 

Bluebells enjoy our British climate and they grow most densely in our country and are common through Northern Europe too. They have a finite period where they grow, bud and bloom before the woodland tree canopy bursts into leaf and casts shadow over the woodlood floor. They start to emerge in early March and their peak flowering time can be late April until May, depending on the weather conditions and their whereabouts. 

It is lovely to see woodlands full of our native bluebells as there is much concern over the popular Spanish bluebells that are grown in many of our gardens. The Spanish variety can cause crossbreeding as it's much more vigorous than the native English bluebell and it is diluting some of our native bluebells' unique characteristics in some areas. 

Spanish bluebells have much broader leaves compared to the narrow leaves of the English bluebell. Our native bluebell flowers are smaller with their tips curled back and the stem drooping or nodding, whereas the Spanish bluebell flowers are found on upright stems, all around each stem and the flowers are bell shaped with their tips spread out. The pollen anthers of our native flowers are cream compared to the anthers of the Spanish variety, which are usually blue - so they are quite different to each other. 

Here are some pictures taken in local beauty spot Mardley Heath Nature Reserve. 

More on Mardley Heath Nature Reserve: 

Mardley Heath Nature Reserve

Wrest Park in Springtime

We visit Wrest Park in Bedfordshire quite regularly as I love to see it's grounds and landscapes through all the different seasons. These are photos from an April visit this year. 

There were plenty of spring plants to see in the gardens. Cowslips were making an appearance in some of the grassy areas and there were some beautiful displays of miniature daffodils, tulips and pansies in the formal gardens. They looked rather stunning grouped together in their shades of pale yellows. There were more tulip displays by the orangery, which were just about to come into bloom - only a few had started to flower, but they're going to look stunning over the coming weeks. 

There are always some new developments at Wrest each time we go, this time some lovely new and more formal gardens were now in place to the right side of the house with further gardens being developed over to the left side, so it will be interesting to visit again in late spring or early summer to see how things are coming along.

Find out more about Wrest Park:

English Heritage - Wrest Park

Cowslips making a welcome sight

New formal gardens on the right side of the house

Peaceful spring walk by the waterside

Gorgeous shades of pale yellow

 

An early tulip

I spotted this little group of Easter wind flowers, one of my favourites for April, a small, colourful and delicate plant. They're also known as the pasque flower and thrive in rock gardens and borders - a sun lover with silky cup shaped flowers. 

See Wrest during different seasons - more blogs on Wrest Park:

Autum

Swans at Wrest

At Wrest With Snow