Hyacinthoides non-scripta | bluebells

The UK's spring Superbluem is marked by carpets of bluebells

There are lots of spring flowers in the UK that make themselves known but none are so place changing as carpets of bluebells. Altering the colour and atmosphere of deciduous woodland, their scent of sweets flowing through the trees arouses our senses.

In West Yorkshire, bluebells hit their prime in early to mid-May, a number of weeks later than the south of the country, telling us they are triggered into flower by a few degrees of warmth. In the UK we have one wild bluebell, Hyacinthoides non-scripta, which you can spot because the flowers hang over in a loop with each of the blue bells on one side of the stem. It originates from the UK down through France, Spain and Portugal.