Early Spring Bluebell Challenge

[oldclaypaws]

£1000 prize for the first person to post a picture of a 2014 Bluebell in blossom.

I win. (Taken this afternoon, about 3-4 weeks before you'd expect them)

[TerryH]

Nice one! Beat me to it with the photo but we had a few bluebells in flower here when I visited on 20th March - too overcast to get a good photo at the time though.
We also have Lesser Celandine, Milkmaids , Herb Robert and Ground Ivy just appearing at the moment.
Wood anemones have been out for a couple of weeks already and dog violets since a week before that. ( So many dog violets this year compared to last .. or maybe I'm just a bit more observant this year?)

[oldclaypaws]

Ground Ivy just appearing at the moment

????

I've patches of my wood where there's nothing else on the ground, all year. Try 90% dense Oak cover, and I'll guarantee you'll not be short of ground Ivy, in our wood its like a shag pile carpet!! It seems to be a competition between the bluebells, ivy and brambles, depending on light. Where the oak is thinned, there's an explosion of numerous herbaceous new growth, and the Ivy disappears. Light and thinning seems a good way to go towards biodiversity. I take ground Ivy as an indicator of thinning required, unless you like gloom and 'dark woods'.