Today we planted 230 English bluebell bulbs in the woodland garden. Bluebell woods in May (and lately, April) are one of the most romantic and breathtaking sights to be seen in our countryside, and I am very excited to see the results of our work in springs to come….
Many people are not aware of the threat which faces our bluebells. Over the years, gardeners planting imported Spanish bluebells have unwittingly created a real problem for the smaller, darker and more delicate English flowers. The Spanish variety have ‘escaped’ into woodland in many places, and being genetically quite close, have begun to interbreed with the English bulbs. The interlopers are more robust, and therefore have a tendency to out-compete our gentler natives. Obviously there is also the issue of the gene pool of the pure native species becoming more and more muddied. Follow this link to see the difference between the two varieties: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7381245.stm
There is a message here for us gardeners – now, with the benefit of hindsight, we know to ensure that the bulbs we buy are the native English bluebell… And don’t, ever, throw your garden waste over the fence into the adjoining woodland. That way, hopefully we’ll still have bluebell woods in the future, glowing deep purple through the trees….
Another thing I love about bluebells is the way that they demonstrate how perfectly the mechanisms of nature intermesh… They sprint from the starting gates in spring, growing leaves and flowers and setting seed, all before the trees above have began to come into leaf. In this way, they have been able to colonise a habitat which, during the more typical growing season, would have insufficient light to allow adequate photosynthesis. By the time the trees are unfurling their leaves, the bluebells are thinking about entering their summer sleep, their sap withdrawing again to the small, white globes beneath the forest floor.
For those who came along to Feed the Birds Day on Sunday, our Halloween pumpkin, grown in the garden, weighed in at 27.5kg! There were three guesses within a kilogram of the correct weight, who will shortly be receiving their prize through the post.