In Search of Bluebells

Bluebells captured using my iPhone, no filter used

Before we had a garden, I had no idea what Bluebells are.  This Spring, I spotted some pretty purplish blue flowers sprouting about our little front garden and also in our back garden.  They look like they belong to some woods in an Enid Blyton world and so I started googling about them and realise that there are called Bluebells, and there are some places well known for carpets of bluebells in Spring here in the UK.  Excitedly I googled for the best place(s) to see these flowers in Kent since we are not far away.  (What would our lives be without the Google search engine?)

The weather when we arrived.  Blue skies and green grass :)

Sissinghurst Castle Gardens came up and is one of the places recommended by the National Trust.  Without sounding too much like an old English lady, I told K about it and suggested us going if the weather should turn for the better.  It was forecast to rain but hey ho, after lunch on Saturday, the sun came out and so we decided to do an impromptu half day trip.  The drive to Sissinghurst took us a little more than an hour.

We asked the carpark attendant where we could go and see bluebells and he actually told us there is no need to pay to enter the gardens because what we want to see are in the woods behind the castle.  Ooh.. even better! :)

There was a little moat surrounding the castle

Spotted some sheep grazing

We followed this sign into the woods to see wild bluebells

Standing with a good view of the lake

Soon we saw a little fairy door in a tree truck and that's when my heart skipped a beat.  Enid Blyton's world has come alive!  Fairies inside?

K tried to knock..
"Helloooooo… want some crisps?"

When we got into the woods…. ahh we saw them.. so many and so pretty.

And there is was, a carpet of wild bluebells.

Bluebells everywhere!

It was a very leisurely walk and there were not many people.  We were so close to nature, just us two walking, admiring the wild bluebells.  It was silent except for the birds chirping in the air and the occasional kids running past us.  We walked for perhaps 45min before we decided to head out of the woods, towards the castle grounds.  It was pretty warm by that time and I had my first ice cream cone for the year!

It was a lazy Saturday afternoon for these sheep

It was a simple and relaxing afternoon - love days like that.  On the way back home we stopped at a garden centre near Staplehurst and bought some plants home.  I got a pot of blooming blue hydrangeas and two earthen pots wanting to transfer two few potted plants at home in them (we bought two pots of peonies last week!).  You see we are trying to hone some green fingers in the Ong household.  Wish us luck!