Did you know over half of the worlds population of bluebells can be found growing in the UK? These beautiful, spring flowers provide an important early source of food for a variety of wildlife including pollinating insects like butterflies, beetles, bees and hoverflies. Some species of bee will even bite holes through the bottoms of the flowers to get straight to the nutrient rich nectar. Field voles also eat the bluebell bulbs, Muntjac deer can eat the leaves and ants will collect the seeds to take back to their nests so their larvae can feed on the nutrient rich seed coating. Ants play an important role in dispersing bluebell seeds as once they have removed the outer coating they discard the rest of seed into the surrounding soil to grow.
It takes a long time for a bluebell seed to grow into a fully flowering plant, anywhere from 5 to 7 years. They need a lot of energy to grow but they only have a short time above ground to absorb it in. Bluebell plants carpet the floors of ancient woodlands in spring as this is the only time sunlight is fully able to reach them. The bare branches from trees emerging from winter allow sunlight to reach the woodland floor before the tree leaves grow back again, forming a thick canopy over head that blocks out the light once more. Unfortunately bluebells are also incredibly vulnerable to habitat destruction and are often crushed and trampled underfoot. Bluebell plants can take several years to recover from the damage of being stepped on by humans! When the leaves are crushed they are unable to photosynthesise and gather enough energy to grow properly or flower again the following year.
There are several species of bluebell in the UK including the native common bluebell (Hyacinthoides non-scripta), non native Spanish bluebell (Hyacinthoides hispanica) and non native Italian bluebell (Hyacinthoides italica). Native bluebells typically have narrow, long, smooth hairless leaves with pointed tips and strongly scented narrow bell shaped flowers that hang in a row along the dropping plant stem. The flowers are violet blue in colour, with white coloured pollen and six flower petals that curl at the ends. Native bluebells are also a protected species in the UK which means it is illegal to pick, uproot or destroy them!
Spanish bluebells tend to have wider leaves and wider bell shaped flowers that grow from upright plant stems. The unscented lighter mostly blue flowers (they can also be white or pink) have distinctive pale stripes, flared petals and green or blue pollen. There are also hybridised species of bluebell, that are created when different species of bluebell cross pollinate to produce seeds that have the genetic material and characteristics of more than one species. Like the bluebells pictured below which have narrow bell shaped flowers with stripes and green pollen.
Bluebells can grow in two ways, from seed or from a bulb. Bluebell seeds form when the flowers are pollinated by wind and insects. The pollinated seeds then develop in a green seed pod that forms once the flowers have faded and died. Once the seeds are fully formed the the seed pod begins to dry, eventually cracking open to release the black shiny seeds. Each seed contains the genetic material from two bluebell plants, the plant that produced the pollen and the plant that was pollinated.
As the seeds grow they develop into modified buds that then form into bulbs. It then takes a few years for the bulbs to develop fully enough to flower. Bluebell bulbs are made up of tightly packed modified leaves (called scales) covered in a thin papery coating. The modified leaves that make up the bulb are specially adapted to store food for the plant to help it grow and thrive during the spring and summer. The stored food then helps the plant to survive and remain dormant during the colder winter months or during droughts.
Bluebell bulbs continue to grow and develop underground even in their dormant form. They grow additional layers of bulb leaves to store more food, expand the root system below the earth as well as growing new buds that can develop and form into new bulbs.
The new bulbs eventual divide away from the original bulb to form new bluebell plants. As the new plants have formed asexually (without pollination) they only contain the genetic material from one plant and are therefore are clones of the original plant.
Bluebell bulbs contain mucilage and inulin which can both be used as a natural type of glue or starch. The Elizabethan’s used bluebell sap and the juice from the bulbs for book binding, fletching arrows and starching their ruffs. However they never used bluebells as a source of food as all parts of a bluebell plant are toxic to humans as well as cattle, horses and dogs.
You can find lots of fun and easy activity ideas below to help you learn more about these amazing plants.
1. Go on a bluebell hunt
You you can spot bluebells flowering from late February until the end of April in parks, woodlands, gardens or along road sides. Have a look along the way to see if you can see the difference between native bluebells, non native Spanish bluebells and hybrid species. The Wildlife Trust have a list of over 100 bluebell woods you can visit across the UK here and the Woodland Trust also have a guide to the best bluebell woods you can visit here.
2. Look for wildlife amongst bluebells
You will often find pollinating insects like bees, beetles, butterflies and moths on or around bluebell flowers feeding on the nectar and pollen. You might even spot other species insects hiding under the flowers, leaves or on the stems. The undersides of flowers and plants are often teeming with insects, eggs, caterpillars and larva that you would normally overlook. It’s the perfect place for them to shelter away from predators, wind and rain as well as often providing a source of food. You could take a notepad or camera with you to record your finds and also help citizen science by recording anything you find on either the iSpot or the iRecord databases.
3. Plant native bluebell bulbs
Growing a plant from a seed or bulb is a great way to observe and learn about the life cycle of plants. Early spring or Autumn is the best time of year to plant native English bluebell bulbs (please do not plant non native Spanish bulbs) as it gives them time to establish a root system before the ground freezes. It is fascinating watching as the shoots push through the soil to the surface in spring, growing leaves to absorb energy from the sun and convert it into food using a process called photosynthesis. The roots also absorb water and nutrients from the soil to feed the growing plant. You can measure your plant each day using a ruler to see how much it’s has grown. Keep a diary and make observations or drawings of the daffodil bulb and plant at its different stages of growth.
4. Observe all the stages of a bluebells growth
It hard to observe the different stages of the bulbs growth when it starts of underground. But there is an easy and simple experiment you can set up to observe the bulbs growth from start to finish. You just need a large clear jam jar or pots to plant the bulb into to grow. Please only use native English bluebell bulbs (do not plant non native Spanish bulbs) Just fill the jar or container with soil and then make a hole to place a bluebell bulb in up against one side of the jar. Give it a light watering and then place the jar in sunny spot indoors where you can watch it grow. Keep the soil damp with a light watering every few days and monitor the bulbs growth. Measure the bulb and bluebells plants growth each day using a ruler to see how much it grows overtime. Keep a diary and make observations or drawings of the bulb and plant at different stages. When your plant starts to out grow the container then it’s time to replant it into a pot or the garden.
5. Egg carton bluebells
We hate to waste anything and recycling and reusing materials is one of many small things we can all do to help the environment. So instead of chucking used egg cartons we like to find ways to use them in crafts and activities. You can cut easily use the bottom middle spikes from egg cartons to make bluebell flowers. Simply cut the bottom, middle spikes out of the egg carton and then cut petal shapes into the ends and bend them back to flare them out. You can then add colour to your egg carton bluebells using paint, pens or collaged materials and then glue them to a green stems made from painted or collaged sticks or twisted paper or fabric.
6. Cardboard tube bluebells
Old wrapping paper or kitchen roll cardboard tubes are also great to use for arts and crafts. To make bluebell flowers you will first need to cut an old cardboard tube in half or quarters (depending on the length) to form the flower bases. Now take each tube piece and cut five or six evenly sized flower petals into one end, fold the petals outwards and then cut the other end of the tube to form a rounded base. You can then add colour to your bluebell flowers using paint, pens or collaged materials and then glue them to a green stems made from painted or collaged sticks or twisted paper or fabric.
7. Bluebell potato prints
Potato printing is a simple activity for children of ages, all you need is a potato cut in half, a bit of inspiration and some paint to get started. They make great invitations to play for children of all ages and you can use the potato prints to make patterns, pictures, cards or recyclable wrapping paper. You can easily make some bluebell prints by cutting a potato half and then cutting the half into a bell shape, next cut triangular shapes into the end to form the petals. Dip the potato into blue paint and then have fun printing bluebell flowers. You can also add on green flower stems or leaves using green paint, pen or collaged materials.
You can also make bluebell bulb prints using potato’s and paint. All you need a potato cut in half, cut the top half of the potato to give it a pear or bulb shape and then dip it in brown or orange paint to print with. You can then paint, collages or draw on green shoots and white roots to show the bulbs growing.
8. Bluebell mirror prints
Mirror image painting is a quick activity that also looks really effective. Simply fold a piece of paper or recycled cardboard in half. Unfold the paper or card and then paint half of a bell shaped bluebell flower onto one half of the paper. Then fold the paper or card back up again and press down firmly across the whole of the surface. When you open the paper or card back up again you should have an interesting mirror image print of a bluebell flower.
9. Bluebell painted pebbles
We love finding painted pebbles when we are out and about, it’s wonderful to see the creativity and love that people put into them. You can easily find pebbles to decorate yourself by looking in your garden, on a nature walk or along the shore. All you need then is some paint or permanent markers to paint or draw bluebell themed flower, bulbs or plant designs onto the pebbles. *Safety note please be aware of the choking hazard of pebbles with smaller children.
10. Bluebell log slices
Painted log slices are great fun to use in pretend play you could easily paint them to look like flowers, animals, people or food. We turned ours into bluebells using just paint and a bit of imagination. Once you have finished painting your log slices the children can have fun using them in pretend play or as story prompts or props. You could even hide them and have a treasure hunt or recreate childhood games by turning them into counters for games like noughts and crosses, snakes and ladders or even checkers.
11. Finger paint bluebells
It is so quick and simple to make finger and hand print bluebell prints. It’s a great sensory and fine motor skill activity for children of all ages. Simply dip your hands in green paint and then print them onto paper or card to form the bluebell plant stems and leaves. Then dip your fingers in blue or purple to finger print on the bluebell flowers.
12. Chalk paint bluebells
Chalk paint is really quick and simple to make and so much fun to play. All you need some chalk and water. First you need to crush the chalk onto a flat surface or container. You could easily use a spoon, rock or branch for this. Then just add water and stir until you get a smooth paint like consistency. How about making up a selection of paint colours. You can then use your paint to paint bluebells onto any surface you like from fabric and paper to paths and tree trunks.
13. Learn more about bulbs
Bulbs are food storage organs for plants. They can form in several different ways and can have very different structures. Plant corns, rhizomes and tubers are all types of bulbs but they look very different to ‘true bulbs’. True bulbs like onion, daffodil and tulip bulbs are are made up of tightly packed modified leaves, or leaf bases called scales. Some true bulbs are also covered in a thin papery coating but some are just bare. The modified leaves that make up bulbs are specially adapted to store food for the plant to help it grow and thrive during the spring and summer.
Some bulbs are edible and have been cultivated and grown throughout history to provide an important source source of food for humans and domestic animals. As bulbs are naturally food stores for plants they are packed with nutrients like vitamins, minerals and fibre. Their ability to remain dormant also means they can also be stored and kept for long periods of time. Onions are the perfect example to use to learn about edible bulbs or true bulbs as you can easily slice one in half to see the layers, roots, stem, skin. you can also have fun pulling apart the layers to look at them more closely. Onions belong to the Allium family of plants which also includes three -cornered leeks, wild garlic and chives.
Not all bulbs are edible however, bluebells are a good example of non edible bulbs as they contain toxic glycosides! This makes them toxic to both humans and most animals! I wouldn’t recommend cutting a bluebell bulb in half due to the toxicity its safer and better to use edible bulbs like, onions, leeks or garlic for this demonstration.
14. Re-grow bulbs from food scraps
Did you know that you can regrow some plants from food scraps? It’s a great way to recycle food waste as well as show how food grows, what the food looks as a plant and what part of the plant you are actually eating. Spring onions and leeks are really great bulbs to regrow from food scraps as they regrow really quickly. All you need is the scrap trimmed bottoms from some spring onions.
Place the trimmings bottom down in a shallow dish so the root ends touch the bottom. Next pour a small amount of water into the dish so it lightly covers the bottom of the dish without covering the spring onion of leek bases. Place the dish in a warm sunny area and wait and watch for the roots and shoots to start growing. Don’t forget to top the water up every now and then. When your plants look like they are starting to thrive you can replant them in soil to grow properly into spring onions or leeks again.
STEM activity: How about experimenting by re-growing the spring onions with a series of different conditions. Place each spring onion in a different pot or dish of water. Mark a number onto each container and then write down the same numbers on a sheet of paper so they can track the results.
Experiment with the following different conditions:
- A spring onion in normal water.
- A spring onion with water but no light (Leave it in darkness)
- A spring onion with no water.
- A spring onion in coloured water. (Add a few drops of food colouring)
- A spring onion in slightly acidic water (add a drop or two of lemon juice)
- A spring onion in alkaline water (add half a teaspoon of baking powder).
When you have finished you can talk about the results and what plants might need to grow and thrive.
If you like this you might like to try:
14 Seed science activity ideas
14 Soil science and sensory activities
Childsplayabc ~ Nature is our playground 