Simply bluebells.

Bluebells then. Fabulous! At this time of spring we are reluctantly saying goodbye to the lovely daffodils to make way for peoples favourite - bluebells. All the spring flowers are jostling for attention at the moment, tulips are standing up straight in an attempt to keep their petals from dropping. Primulas are not wanting their delicate little petals to fade. So along comes the bluebell.

Who hasn't ever taken  a photo of them? Over the years they can bring back many memories - I bet everyone can remember a certain walk through a woodland of them. You may even be planning one now. They never fail to make you stop and look at them and put a smile on your face. 

It goes without saying how inspiring they are to paint.

Using lots of my favourite colours and often letting the watercolour paper and a loose wash blend them together.  violets, french ultramarine blues and my favourite sap green all go together to make a beautiful representation of these flowers. A bluebell woodland walk is my favourite scene to paint.

There is a beautiful area called Manor Barn about 15 minutes walk away from me. The grounds are full of nature - flowers and plants , really mature trees and a settled square pond.  In summer the rose garden there is simply stunning. One could spend ages there taking in the aromas of all the different varieties of roses. However now there is the last few weeks of the tulips and primulas. They are still giving bluebells a run for their money though and not quite ready to fade yet. Pictured against a stone flint wall their amazing colours come right out.

Last week I took my two dogs there and they had a sniff around and then sat quietly contemplating by the small pond. The trees above us were full of British birds tweeting away. Within a minute I had spotted a squirrel, two blackbirds and chaffinch and six robins! Robins are always associated with December time but these little ones were happily chirping and dipping their beaks in and out of the pond. There was a wide variety of nature to spot just in those few minutes the dogs would allow me to sit still.

You may know that not all the bluebells that are growing all around us are not native to Britain. Some  are from Spain and are the ones invading our land and threatening to take over our species. A couple of differences between the two are that British ones are smaller and have a more delicate scent and hang over, whilst the Spanish ones grow upright.

There are many local woodlands that have bluebell walks advertised and the UK is home to about half of the worlds bluebell population. The scent of the bluebell is much greater from our native species. Take a few minutes to enjoy all the senses that these flowers offer. Fields of bluebells mixed with contrasting white wood anemones show how wonderful nature is.

Hope you have enjoyed my indulgence for Bluebells this BLOG.

 Go out and enjoy some now!

Thank you for reading.

Vicky :-)

A garden should be natural seeming, with wild sections including a large area of bluebells.