I visited a couple of Bluebell woods over the long weekend. One was Lesnes Abbey Wood, the ancient woodland that has survived despite being surrounded on all sides by south-east London (see also entries on March 16th. and 28th. concerning its Wild Daffodils and Wood Anemones). The other was Hitch Wood in Hertfordshire (shown above).
 Actually the Bluebells at Lesnes were probably several days past their peak and somewhat sparser than I anticipated, though growing in their thousands. Late April/early May is generally the time to see Bluebells in flower but it can vary by a week or two from year to year and place to place. Hitch Wood was gloriously flowery; the gentle slopes were luminous with drifts of smoky blue haze among the trees.
 These are the native Hyacinthoides non-scripta whereas most Bluebells in gardens, towns and cities are derived from the Spanish Bluebell Hyacinthoides hispanica (I wrote an entry about this distinction on May 21st. last year).

 Looking at Bluebells and photographing them prompts me to wonder: what colour are Bluebells? I have taken hundreds of photos of them in recent years and invariably they photograph as pale or shrieking shades of violet. Looking through my reference books they too contain photos of "Violetbells" or appear photoshopped to a not entirely convincing shade of blue.
 I thought it might be a facet of digital sensors but older books contain similar photos and apparently both digital and slide photography emphasize the violet spectra of Hyacinthoides.
 The colour of the nodding bells varies anyway from pale through to rich hues. In Hitch Wood the afternoon sun was playing through the trees and illuminating bands of bells with varying intensity which seemed to make them glow with different tones.
 And perception is fickle. I visited the wood with several friends (and I must admit a country pub was involved in the proceedings). Even allowing for the variations in light (and alcohol) we each seemed to have a slightly different sense of what colours we were seeing over a range of blue/mauve/violet/purple impressions.
 Recalling colour theory from art school days the perceived colour of an object is created by some wavelengths of light being absorbed and others reflected. One comment I came across on a photography forum is that Bluebells reflect particular ultraviolet frequencies not visible to humans but visible to insects which are attracted by them.
 That's one for the plant scientists but what strikes me is that plants have two fundamental drives: one is to photosynthesize (which gives life to the plant), the other is to reproduce (i.e. pollination which gives life to the species). And light is crucial to both.
 So what colour are Bluebells? I'm not entirely sure but evolution does things for a reason...