16 April 2019
In pictures: Bluebell season at Wakehurst
Wakehurst's bluebells are at their best from now until the end of May. Don't miss your chance to see the woodlands transformed into a stunning carpet of blue.
We have millions of bluebell bulbs scattered throughout our woodlands.
They spend most of the year as bulbs underground and emerge to flower from April onwards.
These delicate flowers are actually bulbous herbs with flowering stems, which grow up to 50cm tall.
As many as 20 sweetly-scented flowers can appear on a single flower stalk, which droops or nods to one side.
The flowers are bell-shaped and can be blue, white or rarely even pink. Each flower has six petals with upturned tips.
Bluebell nectar makes a tasty snack for pollinators.
Bees, hoverflies, butterflies and other insects love them and their flowers provide an important early source of nectar.
In fact, bees can actually 'steal' the nectar from the bluebells flowers by biting a hole in the bottom of the bell. By doing this, they reach the nectar without pollinating the flower.
This year our bluebells are flowering a couple of weeks early as the weather hasn’t been cold enough to keep the bluebells underground.
