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Forum » Woodland Management » Woodland Phenology » Blue Bells

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Author	Topic: Blue Bells

Chilterns

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Blue Bells on: May 6, 2013, 19:22
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On Thursday 02nd May 2013 I inspected a patch of bluebells and found that only about half a dozen blue bells had opened their flowers. Four days later on Bank Holiday Monday I spent a lovely day at the woodland and was taken aback by just how quickly the trees had come into leaf and the blue bells moving rapidly into full flower.

Six days later the blue bells were probably at their peak flowering.

The blue bell aroma is both intoxicating and soporific.

I suspect that it will be a short flowering season this year due to the late spring causing a rapid closure of the woodland canopy.

A month after the peak of flowering (13 June 2013) the blue bell leaf is turning yellow and fading away leaving tall stalks with seed pods

Chilterns

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Re: Blue Bells on: April 6, 2014, 12:35
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Following a very mild wet winter with few frosts I noticed that a few blue bells had already opened their flowers on the first day of April 2014 which is nearly a month earlier than last year.

Chilterns

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Re: Blue Bells on: April 19, 2014, 11:22
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Two weeks later the blue bell flowers had opened up across the woodland beginning to reveal a carpet of blue together with emitting their intoxicating aroma that gives rise to a feeling of wellbeing.

Chilterns

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Re: Blue Bells on: April 21, 2014, 21:33
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One week later (21 Apr 2014) the blue bells have developed significantly and are just about to peak.

Amidst the vast swathe of blue bells my eye caught 3 "white bells" - presumably a genetic variation of the blue bell. Later on 24th April 2014 an article appeared in the Daily Telegraph confirming the rarety value of white English blue bells although apparently this is more common amongst the Spanish blue bells that are more prevalent in domestic gardens.

A report on the 2003 Bluebells for Britain survey conducted by Plantlife provides useful information on the UK distribution of blue bells.

Chilterns

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Re: Blue Bells on: April 29, 2014, 08:43
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There has been very wet weather since the 21st April update and this has reduced bees flying and pollinating the flowers.

The blue bells peaked on Sunday 27th April.

Chilterns

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Re: Blue Bells on: May 30, 2014, 17:44
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By the end of May 2014 the blue bell leaves have turned yellow and collapsed due to the woodland canopy above now being fully closed. The flower stalks are now standing straight and are carrying soft closed seed pods.

Chilterns

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Re: Blue Bells on: July 6, 2014, 13:05
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On 04th July I noted that the lowest blue bell seed pods had started to dry with some having started to burst and drop their seed into the woodland duff.

I gathered a bucket full of seed pods / stalks and have placed these on a try to dry, split and drop their seed so that we can broadcast the seed onto areas of the woodland that would benefit from re-establishment of blue bells.

The seed pods will soon become deer food with these tasty morcels being nipped off leaving just the stalk and hence lost to the woodland eco system.

It is an offence to gather and sell blue bell seeds without obtaining the necessary licence.

Chilterns

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Re: Blue Bells on: April 10, 2015, 16:21
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I saw the earliest open bluebell in our woodland on 02 April 2015. There were two or three other blue bells close bye in a semi open state.

This early singular flowering coincides almost exactly with the same date as last year (01 April 2014) and so we can probably safely predict that blue bells will peak this year on or around 27 April 2015.

Chilterns

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Re: Blue Bells on: April 27, 2015, 08:21
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By 26th April 2015 the blue bells were substantially open but a good number of them still had the final flowers at the tip of the stem still to fully open however the aroma was delightful.

A week later after a very heavy early morning downpour of rain on 03rd May the blue bells have peaked.

The canopy is now closing over and the woodland is becoming darker at ground level.

Chilterns

Ken Hume

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Re: Blue Bells on: May 4, 2015, 08:43
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On Sunday 03rd May 2015 I went for a walk in Ipsden Wood near Checkenden and was astounded by the almost 100% blue bell coverage in parts of this Chilterns woodland.