Bluebells at Emmetts

This weekend we hot-footed it to Emmetts Garden to take in the bluebells that are out now. I’ve been itching to catch them for the past two weeks but this was the first chance we’ve had. I think we may have been a little late to see them in their prime but they were still a gorgeous vision. That fuzz of blue spreading out under the dappled light of the burgeoning tree canopy. Such a joyous sight.

Tricky to capture in a photograph. They just seem to recede the closer you get!

Bluebells at Emmets

Emmetts is a National Trust garden that is well known for its bluebell display, but there are plenty of other places you can see them too. The Woodland Trust have a handy search for bluebell woods here – just type in your postcode.

On this visit to Emmetts the Davidia was also in flower. The ‘flowers’ are actually a pair of showy, white bracts which surround a dense cluster of actual flowers in the centre. The bracts give the impression of a flight of doves or white pocket-handkerchiefs, hence its common names of dove tree, ghost tree and pocket handkerchief tree. It can take up to 20 years for a tree to flower well!

Branches laden with the handkerchief-like flowers

I love this Instagram pic – it looks like wallpaper, or a painting!

The distinctly conical shape of a Davidia

I also loved this meadow, or field, dotted with pink and purple tulips too – quite an unusual way of planting them I thought. So pretty and effective.

And we admired the spectacular views over the rolling Kent countryside.