This blog has described cherry blossoms as one of the crowning beauties of spring, but there is a darker and more haunting beauty of the season which might possess equal floral splendor. Bluebells are woodland flowers which need very little light. They create dense colonies under full canopy forests where few other plants can grow. In May, they bloom simultaneously in a shimmering ocean of lavender blue. If cherry trees are written in a major key of pink and white, bluebells are in a minor key of silver and ultramarine shadows. At a distance they look like a pool of some exotic liquid, but this illusion vanishes up close (an effect which tends to draw the viewer toward a goal he never reaches). Individual flowers are actually also quite attractive looking like the related hyacinths, but with each blossom hanging like, well, like a pretty little lavender bell.
Carpets of bluebells are a particularly British phenomenon. The flowers colonized Britain late in the ice age, before the seas rose; the flowers thereby avoided competition with many other European woodland plants which never naturally reached the Sceptred Isle.
Because of their otherworldly loveliness, and the way they made familiar woods seem completely alien, bluebells have an ancient and somewhat sinister place in folklore. Bluebell woods were regarded as portals to fairyland where unwise aesthetes could be trapped between worlds—or children could be stolen outright.
Bluebells feature in Rip Van Winkle style tales of people who wander into the flowers grasping at absolute beauty only to emerge and discover the world has changed by hundreds of years and everyone they knew and loved was dead. Another tale told about the bluebells is that anyone who hears them ring will soon die—although this story might have a hint of truth since the flowers are poisonous. If you find yourself disoriented in the midst of a bluebell woods with your ears ringing you might be in trouble (although scientists are poring over the chemically active compounds within bluebells to see if they have potential medical applications).
Bluebells also produce a sticky sap which was used for fletching arrows and binding books in ages past when arrows and books were everyday items. The bulbs themselves were also ground into a starchy powder used for…get ready for it…starching Elizabethan lace ruffs.
Beyond providing a dark portal to supernatural realms and stiffening ill-thought out fashion accessories, bluebells are a sign of ancient forests. Since they outcompete other woodland plants when beneath dense shade, a large vibrant colony of bluebells indicates that the forest has stood for a long time. Magnificent bluebell displays are rare in the new world unless you find a place which had dedicated and visionary gardeners a lifetime ago.
10 comments
Comments feed for this article
May 1, 2012 at 9:27 PM
dianaarterian
So cool
May 2, 2012 at 11:25 AM
Wayne
Aren’t they beautiful? I was tempted to plunge into the bluebells despite the elvish curse, but no matter how much I like flowers, a century would be too long to spend without seeing my friends.
May 30, 2012 at 3:29 PM
Earth Energy Reader
I wish we had something like this in Canada…These photos are beautiful.
May 30, 2012 at 11:30 PM
Wayne
I’m sort of stunned that we have something like it in Brooklyn…I wonder if I can get my parents to grow some in the country.
June 8, 2012 at 10:52 PM
Tiffany
I certainly had no idea about the legend of the bluebell, but it certainly explains their draw. I posted how BBG doesn’t allow its patrons to roll around in them – thanks to your post, I see it’s a matter of public health. Beautiful shots! http://www.flowproperties.blogspot.com
June 14, 2012 at 5:43 PM
Wayne
Thanks Tiffany! I think they are not just poisonous but also delicate and hence would not stand up to too much Brooklyn relaxing.
June 25, 2012 at 12:06 PM
unwit
OMG, what lovely posts, photos and writing. Glad I found your blog!
June 26, 2012 at 1:24 PM
Wayne
Thank you for the kind words. I need to write more about flowers, I miss the bluebells (although I am enjoying June’s roses).
June 2, 2013 at 1:42 PM
Rose
Beautiful! Can you say whether the bottom (more purple) photo is retouched? The top photo (more blue) is what I remember seeing, was just wondering whether there is actually a more purple flower.
June 3, 2013 at 10:59 PM
Patricia murray
Love the photo of the bluebell woods. I would love to paint it if you would permit it