Howard’s End at Home
Outside my backdoor in the shade of a gnarled friend, the bigleaf maple
The first time I recall seeing a forest floor carpeted in bluebells was in the movie Howard’s End. In a dreamlike state, Vanessa Redgrave as Ruth Wilcox was drifting through a sea of blue flowers, consumed by the beauty of the moment. The train of her Edwardian dress heavy with moisture from dew, left a wake of parted petals and stems with each step. It’s an image worth remembering and one I can revisit with Netflix or in my own backyard each May.
Apparently there are different bluebell species as the Natural History Museum in London explains quite nicely:
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Spanish bluebell, Hyacinthoides hispanica (My backyard species)
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English bluebell, Hyacinthoides non-scripta (Vanessa’s woodland sea)
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Hybrid bluebell, Hyacinthoides x massartiana
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Bluebell-like plants, examples
They are the most prolific spreader in a shady garden and under trees, peering up with the full force of their beauty en masse, the extravangant display lasting several weeks. They disappear as quickly as they arrived, leaves wither to a yellowy straw color before dissolving into the earth in preparation for their nine-month nap and showstopping return.
Related: BBC video, Spanish Bluebell Invasion
There’s no better place to chew a bone than on carpet of bluebells.
8 responses so far ↓
1 Renae // May 12, 2008 at 3:25 pm
I think you could become very wealthy selling the photo of your dog on ebay.
2 Renae // May 13, 2008 at 9:16 am
Does your dog blog? I would SO read it.
3 Tom // May 13, 2008 at 1:48 pm
I’ll have to ask him. I suspect he and Gracie host a mean poker game on Thursdays, as I’ve noticed an uncommon number of peanut shells on the floor and cigar butts under the stairs, but as for blogging, I think he has trouble remembering his logon and password.
4 Tipper // May 14, 2008 at 5:40 am
Beautiful bluebells and cute dog! Who wouldn’t want to lay in a bed that pretty?
5 Ron B // Jan 24, 2009 at 6:08 am
Hi
Unless you have keyed them out or otherwise studied them carefully with an eye to anatomical details you may find your bluebells are actually the hybrid type. Most forming patches here may be those. See
http://www.arthurleej.com/a-bluebell.html
-R
6 Tom // Jan 24, 2009 at 4:14 pm
Thanks Ron, that’s a great link and I suspect your right, as there is nothing timid about this bulb and its ability to spread. Even in ALJ’s photo, you can see blackberry seedlings vying for space with the mass of bluebells. That’s one tough posie.
7 Mom, These Are for You // May 10, 2009 at 5:24 pm
[...] What I was blogging about one year ago: Ringing the Return of the Bluebells [...]
8 Frances // Jul 5, 2009 at 4:09 am
I am so glad to know the name of the pink, purple and white flowers carpeting the ground under my birch trees every spring.
thank you
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