A kind of blue

This time of year is all about blossom and bluebells. 

Bluebell at Harcourt Arboretum, Oxfordshire  ©Clare Holt

May is the month when nature is at its show-offy best. Blousy prunus, ranging from the delicate and understated to full-on, big fat gypsy wedding bubblegum pink, is followed by apple and pear blossom, hawthorn with its distinctive musky mayflower scent, crab apples dripping with flowers, majestic horse chestnuts.

Less ostentatious but equally stunning is a carpet of azure bluebells. On its own and viewed up close a single bluebell is a thing of wonder, but it can easily get lost in a back garden, in fact bluebells can be a bit of a nuisance if you don't have the space. 

En masse though, viewed by the thousand - or tens of thousand - in a deciduous woodland with its delicately unfurling newborn leaves above and the dappled sunshine filtering through the branches, this humble wild flower really comes in to its own.

In my neck of the woods probably the best place to see them is at Harcourt Arboretum on the outskirts of Oxford and if you haven't been there yet now is the time. 

When I'm not musing about gardens, my day job is running my production business, Nice Tree Films. A couple of years ago I was lucky enough to work with the director of the University of Oxford Botanic Gardens, Timothy Walker, and I made this film with him about the bluebells at Harcourt Arboretum. As I discovered, bluebells aren't just pretty - they are pretty useful too, with a long history of use both weird and wonderful.

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