Late Autumn

Now Autumn's fires burn slowly o'er hills and dales.

Day by day leaves change colour.

Bright skies beckon, 



come quick, come see,

as the leaves drift earthwards, 

in glittering flurries of gold;

They're covering the sleeping flowers,

in a warm embrace,

and spreading leafy carpets,

throughout our woods.

And as we walk through them,

they chatter and crunch beneath our feet.

A Promise Fulfilled

On Friday morning I saw a swallow - was that a good omen? But then I recall Aristotle said 'one swallow doth not a summer make'. 

The spring weather has been mercurial, however, there's nothing I can do to change it. I have made a promise to show some English bluebells to a blogger? one who has travelled all the way from Australia - everything should be well as long as it doesn't rain.

 The Bluebell is the sweetest flower

 That waves in summer air; 

Its blossoms have the mightiest power 

To soothe my spirit's care....Emily Brontë 

Once you know what to look for it is easy to recognise a British bluebell from the rather ubiquitous Spanish ones, which are a hug threat to our native bells.

As British bluebells mature their stems become distinctly blue and droop to one side from the top, Spanish ones stand upright and are green. Our bluebells are a rich blue, Spanish ones are a paler shade of blue. British bells have cream stamens, Spanish ones are blue. The bells on the British flowers are long and narrow and softly curl at the their ends. Spanish ones have wide open bells which do not curl. The problem arises when Spanish bells, which happen to be much more vigorous, hybridise with ours. Hybridised bell flowers contain a mixture of both bells making them difficult to identify and they are even more vigorous than the Spanish ones.

I feel passionate about protecting our bluebell woods from the Spanish threat, once they are gone, they will be lost forever.

Let's continue through the wood and see a bit more blue magic.

Bluebells are mainly found in broadleaved woodlands. The trees newly emerging leaves create the perfect dappled shade that bluebells love without preventing the sunlight from filtering through.

Bluebells are a good indicator that you are walking in ancient woodland 

That's mission accomplished without any rain. The weather is so topsy turvy - now we have a heatwave!

Here's Wendy a happy blogger. 

We spent a really lovely day together.

A Blue Haze

They say blue and green should never be seen, but what could be more lovely than woodlands magically dressed in blue and green?

The Bluebell
 The blue bell is the sweetest flower
That waves in summer air;

Whose blossoms have the mightiest power
To soothe my spirit's care.
by Emily Bronte

The seasonal wheel keeps turning, and now that our native bluebells have carpeted the woods, Spring can give way to Summer

The final weekend

via

Don't miss out on this years blue magic - make haste to your nearest bluebell woods

If you live in the UK and have not visited your local bluebell woods then this weekend could be your last chance to see the flowers this year. Time is running out - their colour is fading rapidly and seeds are already beginning to form within the flower heads.

Most bluebells are found in ancient woodlands where the rich habitat supports a whole host of species.

Some of the woodlands are even remnants of the original wildwood that covered Britain after the last Ice Age

In the Middle Ages, bowmen used bluebell sap to glue feathers onto arrows

Bluebell sap was also used to bind pages to the spines of books

The Victorians used the starch from crushed bluebells to stiffen the ruffs on their collars and sleeves

Legend tells us that a field of bluebells is intricately woven with fairy enchantments

Bees sometimes 'steal' nectar from bluebells. They bite a hole in the bottom of the bell and reach the nectar without pollinating the flower