The Bells, The Bells...The Bluebells!

Elephant in the bloom
Apr 19, 2020
2 min read

April has spun round, the weather improving, and the spring seedlings call to me to head out and explore. Feet wiggled into wellington boots and a coat scrunched into a backpack I set out for an adventure on my hours exercise break.

The magical world of the British woodland entices me in with its earthy smells and pockets of colour looming in the distance, feeling blessed to have this on my doorstep. I stumble upon a carpet of Bluebells, their violet-blue, bell-shaped flowers dangling over lush green narrow leaves sprung from the ground. How could something so beautiful survive in a place absent from sun light, where the tree canopy guards the woodland floor from the outside world. These little bulbs contain a complex system that stores food enabling them to emerge out the ground and grow without sunlight, showing that life can find away in all manner of conditions. I notice the same Bluebells upon the hedgerows and gardens on my return, which went under my radar on the stroll out, truly an age-old British wildflower.

Inspired to find out more these little flowers are only native to lands encompassing the Atlantic. Once given a folk name of ‘crow toes’ it is documented by William Turner (a physician and botanist) in 1548, to have been used to make glue. Used to adorn feathers on to arrow heads and bind pages of books, however the most fun fact of its use is that it was used to stiffen the ruffles of Edwardian folks eccentric clothing!

With a keen interest in the language of flowers the meaning of this little blossom could not be more apt in the current uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic:

Gratitude, Humility, Kindness, solitude

We find ourselves in solitude, where we all need a little kindness to ourselves and others. Finding that another way maybe better than our own opinion as we accept our isolation routines and with it has brought a strong feeling of gratitude for the lives, we once were able to live.

Perhaps the Bluebell should be the flower to represent this crisis, with its colour blue showing support for our NHS. One thing is certain I shall be planting some in my garden so every year they bring a reminder to reflect back to this time; that life is precious and kindness can bring hope.