If it’s okay for Sir David Attenborough and his team to apply subterfuge to achieve their desired goal, then I don’t see why it’s so wrong for me to try and pull the wool over a few people’s eyes. I’ll be upfront with you, Dear Reader, as we’ve been through so much together and I find it impossible to lie to you (shuffles feet, looks at ground)… honest.. it’s true – today’s image wasn’t taken in some green and leafy glade amongst the rolling countryside of this fair Isle but at a local garden centre. Having had a rather busy weekend, time did not allow for me to go out and about in search of subjects to photograph, and having run out of photos to post to Flickr I needed a sure thing when it came to subject matter. Zoos and aviaries are always a good bet but having been to rugby, this left only half a day to go anywhere with the camera; Garden Centres are always a riot of colour at this time of year as Easter is one of their busiest times and as such an easy win.
Amongst the perennials, and the bedding plants, fruit trees and shrubs was a section dedicated to wild flowers (wild, they were livid.. oh hang on I’ve used that one more than once) and there were a good selection too… scabious, cowslips, foxgloves, red clover, and campion. Nestled on their own, in a slightly darker part of the outdoor section of the centres were a number of English Bluebell plants. Not yet in flower, the buds were nestled in amongst the abundant green foliage which seems to carpets most English woodlands at the moment, perfectly framing and contrasting the delicate but yet deep blue of the the flowers in waiting. I will, Dear Reader, venture out to see and photograph the flowers en mass, in their natural habitat (not the ones from the Garden Centre, I’ve not joined the Bluebell Liberation Front!) and will report back with some more photos for you then.
Andrew Skelton: 
Leave a Reply