One of the most beautiful sights of our woodlands is to be seen from April each year when our beloved Bluebells spread a hazy, blue carpet under the trees and over grassy banks. These bulbous perennials have fleshy, glossy, linear leaves which are keeled and come from the root. At the tip of the leaves is a little hood. The long racemes or spikes of four-to-fifteen, drooping, tubular, purplish-blue flowers are one-sided, the leafless stems curving over gracefully. Each flower (14-20mm long) has cream anthers and six backward curving lobes. The latter point makes it easily distinguished from its competitor, the hybrid - Hyacinthoides x massartiana - between the introduced Spanish Bluebell (Hyacinthoides hispanica) and our native Bluebell. This hybrid has non-curving lobes and also differs in that its flowers are not in a one-sided spike. The anthers in the hybrid are blue. Bluebells bloom from April to May. The fruits are egg-shaped capsules with black seeds. This is a native plant belonging to the family
So we took the hour long stroll down to Guelph farmers market ,a quaint market that has been around long before i was a child, on Saturday morning leaving the house just after 6 am. The kids were excited to hit the market for the first time in over 10 years, we had moved to British Columbia 10 years go and moved back to Ontario just under year ago. The fridge was already full of fresh fruits and veggies and my plants for the garden were all ready to go, so i had no plans for what treasures we were going to find.
When we walk through the old barn doors the smell of farm fresh cheese, cured meats and everything cooking in the food court was everything we expected, and like all kids do, they wanted to buy it all. We wondered around inside for a few minutes before venturing outside to the good stuff. All the spring greens early beans and seedlings where everywhere. we wondered around and pet some seeing eye dogs, tried some apple cider and i bored the kids with browsing seedlings like it was the best thing in the world.... then my 2 and a half year old son cought something out the side of his eye ......Fries i want Fries ...hahaha no those are yellow beans i tell him....no fries those are fries he continues. Well we were having BBQ'd salmon and cod for dinner some yellow beans would be perfect along with the asparagus i had already bought , so i take him over and purchase the fries. He was a bit disappointed but this kid loves his veggies too. Then..... my daughter spots it a booth selling nothing but wild flowers . she tug's on my sleeve ..dad dad over here .... ok ok dear...lets go look . We browse the plants she decided on 4 or 5 plants before she saw it ....blue berry! dad this one ... ok i said we love blue berries .... choose the one you want ....we look at the man behind the booth , we will take this one, Awww the BLUEBELL he says. i look at my daughter ummm hunn that tag says blue bell not blueberry ... disappointment and embarrassment falls on her face . the man continues to say do you know this plant , its the most beautiful blue flower and loves to live under trees and will come back every year...her face brighten up ...i said i have a perfect place under the lilac tree for that ......so now we have this beautifl Bluebell plant and we are all excited to see it bloom year after year