Yes OK - but there are still areas where the bluebells are native and haven't been hybridised. I reckon it's worth trying.
Incidentally, the native bluebells grow also in Belgium and northern France. We had them in woods near our old house and there are famous bluebell woods at Halle.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
Hmm, interesting ... I was reading something the a while back about the fact that although we seem to have lost our English Elms, there are naturally occurring hybrids which are resistant to the Dutch Elm disease, and that we could, in the future, see magnificent elms taking their place again in the English countryside. If somehow the hybridisation had been prevented this would not be a possibility.
Another native plant that is hybridising all over the place is our native primrose ... I've found pink primroses in hedgerows in the middle of farmland a long way from any garden with cultivated primroses in it. Are we saying that no one should grow any of Barnhaven's delightful primulas in case we lose our native primrose?
It's been happening for years, think Darwin called it evolution.
Bees seem to be to blame
Im not saying that one path is right or wrong ... Just that it's worth thinking about ...
Last edited: 26 April 2017 07:35:52
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Hi all! Does anyone know the best way to identify native blue and white bells? or how to tell the difference between native ones and spanish ones? We have some in our garden that have been around for 20+ years. We live next to the woods where alot of blue bells grow also. Any help would be appreciated. Also please ignore the mess of the garden we are in the process of giving it a makeover.
The bluebells around here are all English native so I haven't got spanish ones in my garden - I would hesitate to risk it. On the other hand I do think we can get hung up on protecting a species - and there are many examples where environmental policy has been entirely driven by trying to 'save' a particular animal. It's easier to fund raise for pandas or snow leopards or water voles than to campaign for the protection of their habitat - which is the real point. The orangutan is less significant than the forests they live in. If we protect the forests, and all the creatures that live there, we can probably save the orangutan as a by-product. The difference one species makes to bio-diversity is insignificant, the difference that a whole habitat type being destroyed makes is incalculably huge.
Conserving native mixed woodland and 'wild' forests is much more important than saving the red squirrel or the english bluebell. As Dove says, hybridisation is often a good thing, natural evolution, not a universally bad thing as it's often portrayed. A pinky grey squirrel would probably be really cute
Last edited: 26 April 2017 10:22:35
Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
Posts
Yes OK - but there are still areas where the bluebells are native and haven't been hybridised. I reckon it's worth trying.
Incidentally, the native bluebells grow also in Belgium and northern France. We had them in woods near our old house and there are famous bluebell woods at Halle.
Hmm, interesting ... I was reading something the a while back about the fact that although we seem to have lost our English Elms, there are naturally occurring hybrids which are resistant to the Dutch Elm disease, and that we could, in the future, see magnificent elms taking their place again in the English countryside. If somehow the hybridisation had been prevented this would not be a possibility.
Another native plant that is hybridising all over the place is our native primrose ... I've found pink primroses in hedgerows in the middle of farmland a long way from any garden with cultivated primroses in it. Are we saying that no one should grow any of Barnhaven's delightful primulas in case we lose our native primrose?
It's been happening for years, think Darwin called it evolution.
Bees seem to be to blame
Im not saying that one path is right or wrong ... Just that it's worth thinking about ...
Last edited: 26 April 2017 07:35:52
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
You've got the Spanish ones, I'd get rid, they can cross pollinate with the ones in the wood and that's bad for native bluebells.
This was covered on the last GQT:
Q – How can I get rid of Spanish Bluebells?
Bunny – Cover the ground but they could survive for years in darkness. I think the only way is chemical.
The bluebells around here are all English native so I haven't got spanish ones in my garden - I would hesitate to risk it. On the other hand I do think we can get hung up on protecting a species - and there are many examples where environmental policy has been entirely driven by trying to 'save' a particular animal. It's easier to fund raise for pandas or snow leopards or water voles than to campaign for the protection of their habitat - which is the real point. The orangutan is less significant than the forests they live in. If we protect the forests, and all the creatures that live there, we can probably save the orangutan as a by-product. The difference one species makes to bio-diversity is insignificant, the difference that a whole habitat type being destroyed makes is incalculably huge.
Conserving native mixed woodland and 'wild' forests is much more important than saving the red squirrel or the english bluebell. As Dove says, hybridisation is often a good thing, natural evolution, not a universally bad thing as it's often portrayed. A pinky grey squirrel would probably be really cute
Last edited: 26 April 2017 10:22:35
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
Pink squirrels???
I totally agree with raisin girl. Not much point in protecting a species if it's not nowhere to live.
In the sticks near Peterborough
Yes, on a serious note, it's all about habitat.
I think if anyone lives next to a wood with native bluebells, then if they have Spanish ones in their garden, the Spanish ones should go.
Pansyface, yes i agree, they are hard to get rid of. But it if you don't let them flower, that would be something.
