At this time of year the turning of the seasons heralds the arrival of one of our most enigmatic native flowers. The bluebell. The harsh winter has set them back a little this year but here are a few ideas of places to see them in the next few weeks.
Enys Gardens
My obsession with photographing this flower began a few years ago when I discovered Enys Gardens, near Penryn. Here in spring time the meadows simply explode into colour. The story is that the ground here hasn’t been ploughed for centuries. Undisturbed the little blubs were allowed to spread unhindered across the parc land. It really is a stunning sight on a bright spring day.
It can be easy to take this little plant for granted when it is such a common sight in our gardens, hedgerows and parks. But after a long and dark winter what better way to celebrate the arrival of the sunny (hopefully) summer months than a day out to take in these little indigo beauties
The bluebell festival at Enys is from the 4th – 12th May 2019
Godolphin House, Helston
This 700 year old estate is tucked away in rolling countryside just a few miles from the little town of Helston. Owned by the National Trust and there are acres of peaceful woodland to explore and enjoy the carpet of flowers beneath the shady ancient trees.
Pencarrow House, Bodmin
The gardens here combination formal landscaping with natural woodland. In the spring there is a dazzling display of more than 600 varieties of camellias and rhododendrons in bloom. But one of the gardens best known attractions are the bluebells and wild garlic that simply carpet the woodland throughout spring. There is free parking here and dogs are welcome too.
Antony Woodland, Torpoint
Antony House at Torpoint was the setting for Tim Burton’s fantastical film Alice in Wonderland. The National Trust house is the privately owned Antony Woodland Garden. Here in spring a shaded area of trees known as the Cathedral 
becomes the stuff of daydreams where enchanting swathes of bluebells and wild garlic cover the ground. A really wonderful sensation for your senses
Tehidy, Camborne
With around 250 acres of woodlands and miles of footpaths to explore Tehidy is one of the largest area of woodland in Cornwall. Underneath the canopy of established native trees a whole variety of woodland plants and animals thrive. When the bluebells appear the scene becomes even more magical. This is a great natural playground for the young and the not so young to discover!
Further Reading
For more places to visit try
The Marvellous Miss Molly’s Tearoom
Thanks again to Alex for letting me use his gorgeous image in this post. Here’s a link to his website where you can get all kinds of photographic hints, tip and tutorials!
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My wife’s birthday is in early May so we have the tradition of me taking her somewhere there is a healthy mass display of Bluebells. Looks like there will be a good carpet of them in the Valency valley walk up the river from Boscastle too but I think Pencarrow might be a more suitable (flatter!) place to visit for us this year.
What about on Tremough Campus, in the lime avenue? 😉
So lovely. We have carpets of little violets that pop up in our yard. No bluebells, but similar joy at a sea of them.
So happy to see this list! I went to Tehidy yesterday but all the bluebells looked a bit worse for wear, I keep meaning to check out Enys Gardens though, hopefully they’ll look a bit healthier there 🙂