h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I bought and planted some bluebells last year they've flowered nicely and have now gone to seed, I was hoping to buy a second generation of bulbs to plant this year and went to my local gardening centre as before to buy some.

Only they weren't carrying them, nor where they listed in their bulb catalogues - they posited the theory that these already 'wild' flowers (i.e no digging them up from the lane behind the house) have had some sort of ban placed on the selling of wild flower bulbs.

First I'd heard of this change(which seems a bit self-defeating I mean, I want to grow some) but does anyone know if the humble English bluebell is subject to such a ban or where I might be able to find out?

Hmm, I found this -

"In the last 12 months they have ... helped ban the sale of wild bluebell bulbs"

It's an organisation called "Plantlife" and I found the info on an online "Vegan News" site.

http://www.btinternet.com/~bury_rd/junetwo.htm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/nature/sites/wildlife/pages/bluebells.shtml

Apparently it's illegal to dig them up from the wild, and if you do buy them you're not supposed to plant the Spanish version anywhere where they might interbreed with the native version...

Comlicated things bluebells! Ain't they?

The gits. I want to help grow wild flowers not be banned from trying.

Honestly where is the sense in that?

I might give Defra a ring tomorrow try and get a definitive answer.

Well these were and are proper English bluebells (with the droopy hood) and not cross-contaminated, nor are they snagged from the wild but bought from a reputable garden centre. I thought the idea behind plants was that they are capable of reproduction so surely more of them means more bulbs etc?

I can see an argument for closing down an illegal trade in bulbs collected from the wild, but why then target as part of a hypothetical ban cultivated bulbs? Like I said before, that seems self-defeating.

Why is it a bad thing if they hybridise? Surely more types of blue-bells means that they're more likely to survive in numbers?

Ah, but if they're not the native sort it might upset the ecosystem - it might be that insects don't like the imports.

Seems that it is illegal to uproot and sell wild bluebells but they can be picked.
As for buying bulbs you can buy cultivated bluebell bulbs and also there are some places selling bluebell seed (landlife, a wildflower charity for one is).

Thanks Phil - I'll look them up.