Bluebells!
They have been part of my life since I was a child, in fact some of my earliest memories are of the magical sight of thousands of bluebells growing in the woods near our childhood home .. I am so grateful to my parents for giving me that experience as a very young (good looking) boy .. I am sure that it contributed to my life-long passion for plants and gardening.
If was only when I started buying and selling bulbs as part of my career in garden centres that I learnt about the potential problem of English and Spanish bluebells.
The concern has been that the quicker growing ... and slightly invasive Spanish bluebells could 'take over' from our native English bluebells, and that they could be cross-pollinating and creating hybrids that could contribute to the loss of our unique variety of bluebell ....
BUT - how can you tell the difference between the English and Spanish bluebells?
In this video Roger shows us both English and Spanish Bluebells growing in his little Welsh garden - and clearly shows us the difference between the 2 equally beautiful flowers.
The Spanish flowers are about twice as large as the English, and also have larger leaves and larger bulbs too - Roger reluctantly digs up some Spanish bulbs to keep them from taking over his garden.

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