Our Native Bluebells!
These bluebells are all over our back garden and were here when I bought the house in 1984 - well established! They are the native species, protected, and it prohibited by law to dig up the bulbs for sale. We have dug up some though....to give to other people to plant in their gardens!!! Otherwise nothing else would survive in the garden (except for the dandelions and ivy), as they spread and the leaves overshadow other plants!
The English bluebell should not be confused with the Scottish bluebell or harebell, Campanula rotundifolia. Hyacinthoides means "like a hyacinth"; Endymion is another character from Greek myth; Scilla was the original Greek name for sea squill, Urginea maritima.
Other common names for common bluebell include: auld man's bell, bluebell, calverkeys, culverkeys, English bluebell, jacinth, ring-o'-bells, wilde hyacint, and wood bells.
Identification:
The common bluebell flowers in April and May. The stems are 10-30 cm long and bend over at the top. The lavender-blue flowers are pendulous, tubular with the petals recurved only at the end. The individual flowers are borne on one side of the flowering stem only. The anthers are yellowish-white or cream and are attached inside the tube more than half-way along the tube. The flowers are pleasantly and usually strongly scented. The leaves, which are all basal, are narrowly linear lanceolate. Variations in colour occur, most usually pinkish or in a white variant, H. non-scripta 'Alba'. Pollination is by insects, including bees. The black seeds may have a long period of survivability and can emerge after several years' absence if suitable conditions recur. The seedlings can flower in two years from seed; as a result, bluebells can quickly spread in suitable conditions.
Hybridisation:
In Britain and probably elsewhere there has been extensive hybridisation with the introduced Hyacinthoides hispanica producing fertile seeds. This has produced hybrid swarms around sites of introductions and, since the hybrids are able to thrive in a wider range of environmental conditions, the hybrids are frequently out-competing the native Bluebells. Hybrids show a great range of characteristics and any one of the following features indicates some hybridisation:
Stems upright and not nodding
Flowers borne on more than one side of the flowing stem
The flower is more open and bell-shaped and does not have a long and more-or-less parallel sided tube
The anthers, at least when young, are blue or cyan and not white or cream
The leaves are broader
The scent is less strong and less sweet.
Our next door neighbour has the non-native type of bluebell...... :o(
Our Native Bluebells!
These bluebells are all over our back garden and were here when I bought the house in 1984 - well established! They are the native species, protected, and it prohibited by law to dig up the bulbs for sale. We have dug up some though....to give to other people to plant in their gardens!!! Otherwise nothing else would survive in the garden (except for the dandelions and ivy), as they spread and the leaves overshadow other plants!
The English bluebell should not be confused with the Scottish bluebell or harebell, Campanula rotundifolia. Hyacinthoides means "like a hyacinth"; Endymion is another character from Greek myth; Scilla was the original Greek name for sea squill, Urginea maritima.
Other common names for common bluebell include: auld man's bell, bluebell, calverkeys, culverkeys, English bluebell, jacinth, ring-o'-bells, wilde hyacint, and wood bells.
Identification:
The common bluebell flowers in April and May. The stems are 10-30 cm long and bend over at the top. The lavender-blue flowers are pendulous, tubular with the petals recurved only at the end. The individual flowers are borne on one side of the flowering stem only. The anthers are yellowish-white or cream and are attached inside the tube more than half-way along the tube. The flowers are pleasantly and usually strongly scented. The leaves, which are all basal, are narrowly linear lanceolate. Variations in colour occur, most usually pinkish or in a white variant, H. non-scripta 'Alba'. Pollination is by insects, including bees. The black seeds may have a long period of survivability and can emerge after several years' absence if suitable conditions recur. The seedlings can flower in two years from seed; as a result, bluebells can quickly spread in suitable conditions.
Hybridisation:
In Britain and probably elsewhere there has been extensive hybridisation with the introduced Hyacinthoides hispanica producing fertile seeds. This has produced hybrid swarms around sites of introductions and, since the hybrids are able to thrive in a wider range of environmental conditions, the hybrids are frequently out-competing the native Bluebells. Hybrids show a great range of characteristics and any one of the following features indicates some hybridisation:
Stems upright and not nodding
Flowers borne on more than one side of the flowing stem
The flower is more open and bell-shaped and does not have a long and more-or-less parallel sided tube
The anthers, at least when young, are blue or cyan and not white or cream
The leaves are broader
The scent is less strong and less sweet.
Our next door neighbour has the non-native type of bluebell...... :o(