Once you know what you are looking for, you will not make the mistake of thinking you have English Bluebells when, in fact, you have Spanish.  Although pretty, the Spanish version is taking over and threatening the survival of our true English Bluebell.  If you discover, after reading this, that you have Spanish Bluebells in your garden, dig them up and destroy them!  Harsh but necessary.

So what are the differences between the two?

SPANISH - 4 to 8 leaves, rectangular with a blunt tip.  Flowers are attached to the main stem on all sides and are upright.  They are usually pale to mid blue in colour (sometimes white or pink) and the petals form a wide open bell, and are not usually rolled back.  The flowers are usually unscented.

ENGLISH - 3 to 6 leaves, narrow and tapering to a point. The flowers are attached to one side and distinctly droop to one side.  The flowers are a deep blue and form a narrow, straight-sided bell with the petals rolled back.  The flowers are also usually scented.

We sell only true English Bluebells.   Buy them all year round from our shop: www.englishplants.co.uk (they will be sent out to you from September to late November).

What are Bluebells in the Green?

These are simply Bluebell bulbs that have started shooting, have foliage or foliage and flowers.  These are only sent out from February to May.

A bit of info on the Bluebell

Popular nectar plant for bees, butterflies and hoverflies.  Leaves provide food for autumnal and 6-striped rustic moths.  Preferred food source for the Brimstone and Pearl Bordered Fritillary butterflies.  Pollinated by long-tongued insects, such as bumblebees, and some hoverflies.  Honeybees have short tongues and so have to steal the nectar by pushing apart the base of the petals.

Pliny said that Bluebells sprang from the blood of Ajax.  Another legend dedicates the plant to Hyacinthus, who was loved by Apollo and Zephyrus, the god of the West wind.  Hyacinthus, though (a lad, by the way), loved Apollo more and so Zephyrus killed the lad in jealousy.  From his blood sprang Bluebells.

White juices from the stem make a useful glue.  During the Middle Ages it was used to stick feathers on to arrows, and during Elizabethan times, it was used for laundry starch and glue.

Folklore - Bluebell fields can be dangerous as they are full of fairies and concentrated magic. The flowers ring to summon fairies to midnight revelry.  Anyone who wears a Bluebell is compelled to tell the truth.   If you hear Bluebells ring you will soon die – thus they were known as Deadman’s Bells in Scotland.

Planting your bulbs – Plant as soon as possible after receipt.  If you can’t plant straightaway, store them in a mesh tray with sawdust to stop them going mouldy.  For a more natural look, scatter the Bluebell bulbs and plant them where they land.  Make sure they are planted to a good depth (about 4 inches).   Bluebells grown from seed take 2 – 3 years to flower.

PLEASE NOTE - IT IS ILLEGAL UNDER THE WILDLIFE AND COUNTRYSIDE ACT TO DIG UP AND REMOVE BLUEBELLS GROWING IN THE WILD.  FINES CAN BE HEFTY!

]]> http://englishplants.co.uk/blog/index.php/bluebells/english-bluebells/feed/ http://englishplants.co.uk/blog/index.php/bees/bumblebees/ http://englishplants.co.uk/blog/index.php/bees/bumblebees/#comments Sat, 16 May 2009 13:40:28 +0000 admin http://englishplants.co.uk/blog/?p=26 The UK once had 27 species of bumblebee - 3 of these are now extinct and others are in danger of going the same way.  Bumblebees are vital pollinators of crops and flowers and their loss has a knock-on effect on all of us.  They are also important pollinators of wildflowers - themselves in decline due to modern farming practices; lose the bees, we lose the wildflowers and the other insect species that rely on them for survival.

We can all do our bit to help save the bumblebee by growing wildflowers and other bee-friendly plants in our gardens.  Herbs and traditional cottage garden plants are all valuable for bees, unlike colourful bedding plants, double-flowered varieties and other cultivated plants.  A well-stocked garden with the right plants should attract around 6 species of bumblebee, if not more.

Some good plants for attracting bees - Toadflax, Knapweed, Viper’s Bugloss, Teasel, Cornflower, Rosemary, Sage, Thyme, Heather, Alliums, Birdsfoot Trefoil, Deadnettles, Red Campion, Thistles, Selfheal, Bugle, Bluebells, Escallonia, Lavatera, Comfrey, Scabious.  

If you have room sow a meadow area from seed, details of how to do this on are on our website (and in a future blog!).  98% of Britain’s meadows and chalk downlands have disappeared in the last 60 years and these were havens for bumblebees and other wildlife.

Identifying Bumblebees

Common Bumblebees (click on image for bigger picture)

Common British Bumblebees

Rarer Bumblebees (click on image for bigger picture)

Rarer Bumblebees

Cuckoo Bumblebees (click on image for larger picture)

There are 6 species of Cuckoo Bumblebees, which are parasitic.  They do not collect their own pollen but invade nests and either kill off or evict the queen, and then use the workers to raise their own offspring.  These bees can be distinguished from others as they have very hairy legs and no pollen baskets.

Cuckoo Bumblebees

The English Cottage Garden Nursery sells many wildflowers, herbs and cottage garden plants to attract bees. We also sell wildflower seeds and meadow seed mixes.  Pay us a visit and buy securely online or learn about wildflowers, meadows and wildlife gardening.

Bumblebee Conservation Trust

This organisation was set up to help promote awareness of the plight of the Bumblebee.  The Trust works with politicians, statutory agencies and other NGO’s  to try and achieve their aims.  They also encourage farmers and landowners to consider the Bumblebee when farming and landscaping.  Their website is full of information about Bumblebees and how you can help to save them.  We would like to thank the Bumblebee Conservation Trust for the use of their images and information.

Mason bees are solitary bees and the females like to nest in pre-existing cavities, such as hollow plant stems or holes previously bored by beetles in old wood.  They use mud as a buiding material.  They favour old, mature hedgerows and woodland edges where there are plenty of old stems and dead wood.  However, with the disappearance over the years of many of the country’s hedgerows, natural nesting sites for these bees have become scarcer - which is where we come in with our gardens.  

What do these bees look like?

Males - covered in dense, gingery fur, slender, with a tuft of white hairs on the front of the head.  Females - also covered in dense ginger fur  but have larger heads which are completely covered in black hair.  

When do we see them?

The males emerge first mid- to late-March and can be seen hanging around nest entrances, waiting for the females to appear, usually a week to ten days later.  

Life cycle

When they do appear, there is a lot of competition amongst the males to mate with the first females.  The males will then die, after about 3 or 4 weeks of life.  The females, on the other hand, once they emerge, they seek suitable flowers on which to feed (inbetween bouts of fending off males).  

After mating, she will look for a suitable nest site.  Once found, she will spend a bit of time getting her bearings in order to find the nest site again, and then go off to search for mud and nectar.  The mud will be applied to the end of the tunnel and she will then set off to gather pollen, which will also be placed in the nest site.  She will then lay an egg on top of the pollen and go off to collect more mud to seal this cell.  This process is then repeated until the end of the cavity is almost reached.  The female will live 10 to 12 weeks and will have made 4 or 5 nests.  The eggs will hatch before she dies and the larvae will feed on the pollen, until fully grown (round about September time).  They will then spin a cocoon to develop into bees and will emerge the following spring.  The bee at the back of the cavity is the oldest and therefore emerges first.  As it can’t get out it has to chew through the mud separating it from the bee in front, then through that bee’s cocoon and then bite it on the backside to jolt it out of hibernation.  This bee then repeats the process until all bees have emerged.

Bee nesting kits

These come ready-packed with nesting tubes for the bees to occupy.  Once your bees have occupied them, in late Spetember place the nest in an unheated shed or garage to overwinter.  In spring place it back in the garden.  You may find that your nest kit will attract Blue Mason bees and Leafcutter bees, the latter sealing the tubes with a leaf instead of mud.

How can I encourage them to my garden?

Grow the plants they feed on, such as:  Cranesbills, Geraniums, Wallflowers, Syonecrops, Deadnettles, Sages, Lavender, Lambs’ Ears, Poached Eggs, Comfrey, Hounds’ Tongue, Viper’s Bugloss, Alkanet, Borage, Mignonette, Feverfew, Thyme, Oregano and Horehound.  Avoid like the plague ANY double-flowered plants, which do not generally produce nectar.  It is also useful to place a heap of moistened soil a few metres from the nest site.

WE HAVE RED MASON BEE NESTING KITS IN STOCK!  VISIT OUR SECURE ONLINE SHOP - www.englishplants.co.uk - The English Cottage Garden Nursery Ltd: wildflowers, herbs, seeds, nestboxes, bee nests, bird feeders - everything you need to make your garden a wildlife haven!

bee on toadflax

Many of the wildflowers we grow are ideal nectar-producers for these bees - why not have a browse in our shop and do your bit for the bees!  If you can’t find what you are after, please email us as the plants may simply just be in stock but growing on, or we may be able to source them for you.