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There is an ancient, delicate flower that blooms every year as the earth warms and the leaves begin to form a canopy over the old woodlands of Europe. When it comes out, millions of violet and blue flowers carpet the forest floors as far as the eye can see, and their strong, sweet scent wafers across the air, turning the forest into something a bit more magical and mysterious. These bluebells have an almost enchanting quality to them, which earned them the name 'Fairy Flowers'. We hope that you too will one day find the time to stroll among these beautiful delicate flowers, but until then, enjoy these heavenly photos of their beauty. |
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This magical carpet of bluebells makes for a dreamy landscape and may be the reason these flowers have earned the nickname "Fairy Flowers". England boasts the largest number of bluebell flowers in the world, and Micheldever Wood often has this amazing blue and purple display. |
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Ashridge forest, in England. These are protected flowers by law, but even before it was instituted in the law, there were stories of dark fates awaiting those who pick these 'fairy flowers'. Stories tell of a pixie that would lead the picker away, never to be seen again. |
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A bluebell trail in Tourneppe, Belgium. |
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A tragic tale by Paul McCartney of the Beatles, is that he whispered these last words to his wife Linda, before she died. "You’re up on your beautiful Appaloosa stallion. It’s a fine spring day, we’re riding through the woods. The bluebells are all out, and the sky is clear blue." McCartney later said that he had hardly got to the end of the sentence before his beloved closed her eyes and gently slipped away... |
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Badbury Clump near Faringdon, Oxfordshire. |
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There are many different kinds of bluebell flowers, with as many names. Some of those are: Common bluebell, British bluebell, Bell Bottle, Fairy flower and wood bell. |
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Every May, for a few weeks, many of the woodlands in Great Britain are covered with English bluebells. |
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An enchanted spring in the Belgium forest. |
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Dark trees amid countless bluebells. |
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| Ashridge forest, with several acres of bluebells creating a rich carpet on the forest floor. |
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Many have tried to bottle the sweet smell of these delicate flowers, to sell as women's perfume. |
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The three best known kinds of bluebells are the Spanish, the English and the Virginia bluebells. Most Spanish bluebells prefer gardens, while English bluebells prosper in the forests. The Spanish bluebell is slightly taller than the English variety. |
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The British and Spanish bluebells are native to Europe and Great Britain. In the photo above you can see Spanish Bluebells. |
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Matthew Oates, naturalist for the national trust, said: "The true beauty of our bluebells - the color, the scent, the view - makes them an essential and special element to our springtime experience." |
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A misty dawn is one of the best times to come and see the bluebells, the atmosphere is dream-like, the forest quiet and beautiful. |
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Even dogs are insanely happy to run among the sweet smelling flowers. |
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And not just dogs. Here is Siberian Tiger Vladimir enjoying a bluebell carpet at Yorkshire Wildlife Park. |
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The Muntjac, also known as the 'Barking Deer', are inquisitive creatures and love the bluebells. |
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The highlands of Scotland are a fertile ground to plant woodland bluebells. They usually only flourish where a wood used to exist.
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Springtime at Waterton National Park, Canada.
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"Love is like a beautiful flower which I may not touch, but whose fragrance makes the garden a place of delight just the same."
Helen Keller
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A beautiful path to walk through on a lazy Sunday afternoon in Belgium. |
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In Scotland bluebells are also known as 'harebells'. The name has a story to behind it. Apparently it was named for the hares that loved to visit the fields. Some claimed that witches would turn themselves into hares to hide among the flowers, and cast spells on those who dared harm the flowers. |
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Sunlight bursting through the trees and lighting the bluebells in stripes of dark blue and bright purple. Bluebells are often associated with gratitude and everlasting love.
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Fairyland bluebells take the mind away on waves of imagination, and as Albert Einstein famously said: "Imagination is more important than knowledge." |
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Gorgeous bluebells drinking the last rays of sun at dusk. "All my life I have tried to pluck a thistle and plant a flower wherever the flower would grow in thought and mind."
Abraham Lincoln
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Bluebells in the woods of Stamford Hill in Cornwall. Mountain bluebells can be found in the United states and were used as medicine by the Indians of the Cheyenne tribe to relieve itching caused by smallpox and measles. They also used it to treat women after childbirth to increase milk flow.
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The not-so-ugly duckling. |
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"Love is the answer, and you know that for sure; Love is a flower, you've got to let it grow."
John Lennon
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Submitted by: Patrick D.
