There is nothing quite like the sight of an English woodland full of Bluebells. Deciduous trees with fresh lime green leaves unfurling with a carpet of deep blue flowers so beautiful it takes your breath away. There’s patches of sunshine with ferns unfurling and dappled shade with mossy fallen trees. Bluebell woods are usually full of wildlife making the most of the early supply of nectar and pollen. Look closely and you’ll see bees and butterflies and wild birds taking advantage of the glut of insect life to feed their young. I was lucky enough to visit Bluebell Cottage gardens yesterday where the Bluebell Wood is in full bloom right now. If you know of woodland in your location where there are Bluebells then the end of April and beginning of May is usually the best time to see them in full flower. Times vary slightly from year to year depending on the weather conditions.
Bluebells
A row of the most beautiful creamy white Hydrangeas greeted me at a plant nursery the other day. Hydrangea panicuata ‘Silver Dollar’ is widely available… but these plants made such a good show because they were all lovely large specimens. It makes a change to see such big healthy plants in full bloom. They flower from August until mid- autumn and the as they age the petals develop a pink tinge. They will grow to around 1.2m/4 feet tall.
So here we are again. It’s December. It’s cold. We’re putting our winter woolies on at last. The garden has changed in the past few weeks. There are plenty of leaves to collect and the oak trees are still decorated with golden leaves so I’ll probably be raking up leaves all December too.
