Spanish bluebell

Many people with older gardens will have populations of Spanish bluebell Hyacinthoides hispanicus flowering at this time of year. The flowers are somewhat like our native bluebell, but with broader leaves, a larger, less one-sided, erect spike of paler, scentless, more bell-shaped flowers, and blue anthers. Hybrids may be intermediate in all characters.

The main concern is that extensive hybridization with the native bluebell H. non-scripta will threaten the integrity of the latter species, which in the UK is highly-valued in landscape and cultural terms. Some however believe that the problem may be overstated. The belief that alien bluebell taxa will outcompete native bluebells remains to be proven. Certainly our nearest urban bluebell wood shows virtually no evidence of widespread hybridisation so far, and I've not come across any hybrids at all in more rural sites.

Emphasis must first and foremost be on the prevention of further material from entering the wild. Garden waste for disposal should not contain bluebell bulbs, and unwanted plants/bulbs should be killed first by drying thoroughly for up to a month. When planting bulbs in wild places, bulbs labelled as native bluebell should not be assumed uncritically to be this species. Gardeners whose gardens are very close to native bluebell populations should not grow alien bluebells.

It's been a damp day, ending with a strange, dense, warm mist. I worked on my current report this morning, before going into town with Alex and Ben. Alex needed a few last things for his trip, including a rucksack, as the only ones we had were either too small or too large! Ben was looking for a lightweight jacket - we found one which I think looks really nice - but although we bought it I think he's still undecided!

I had a lovely surprise when I received an email from the local Wildlife Trust to say that one of my bluebell images had been used on their latest publicity banner, which will appear at lots of events this summer. I was sent a photograph of it - and it looks very impressive - over 2m in height! It's really great that my photography is being used for such a good cause.