Bluebells

This year I've given myself a project - to take a good camera (not just my cheap smartphone) with me on my regular walks in the Forest of Dean and record the changing scene as the seasons come and go. And what a start!  This year's display of bluebells is truly spectacular throughout the land, and not least here in the Forest.

A few weeks ago the primroses were lovely, and soon foxgloves will burst forth, but there's something uniquely beautiful about a carpet of bluebells. Perhaps it's because blue is such an unusual colour in the countryside.

Did you know, though, that our native bluebells are under attack from their Spanish cousins?  The Plantlife website informs us that:

The Spanish Bluebell, commonly grown in our gardens, is more vigorous that our native species and can crossbreed with the native to create a fertile hybrid.  This is a problem, as crossbreeding dilutes the unique characteristics of our native Bluebell.

In a recent study... one in six broadleaved woodlands surveyed were found to contain the hybrid or Spanish Bluebell.

I recall this being a worrying problem where I used to live in Cornwall, a respected local horticulturalist telling me that many bluebells in the parish churchyard were hybrids.  Once the differences had been pointed out, they were easy to spot with their paler colour and absence of scent . So, as with Rhododendrons and Japanese Knotweed, to name but two, carelessly imported plants are causing problems in the English countryside - problems to which there seems no simple solution.  

In this, I freely admit to being as guilty as the next woman, choosing flowers and shrubs for my garden simply on the basis of how colourful they are, with little thought to their origin.  I foolishly trusted the garden centres and seed suppliers to consider the wider issues.  But was it not they who inspired the previous owner of my house to fill the borders of his garden with Laylandii?  Yuk! Thankfully, that unwelcome addition to our garden is almost all gone now.