What with all the drinking and smoking, pubbing and clubbing, gigging and ligging, not to mention trying to hunt down old Big Brother housemates with a custom Ted Nugent bow it's a wonder Londonist ever finds time to stop and smell the flowers. Yet even we will occasionally take a break from our hectic schedules to grab a good noseful of nature's gentle bounty. Pretty, aromatic, occasionally nutritious, easily recycled and low carbon emissions; can't beat a good flower.
Have you ever stopped to ponder Britain's favourite flower, the bluebell? Thought not. Oh, and we know it's Britain's favourite flower because the Natural History Museum said so. And they have to know because they have a sodding great dinosaur in their hallway. But did you know there are three different types of bluebell? Neither did we. And what we don't know about flowers could be written on the back of Lindsay Lohan's bar bill. It seems as if what the NHM don't know about bluebells, however, could be up there on the tab too. Which is why they're asking you, each one of you, individually, to take a note of the bluebells in your area and let them know in their great British bluebell survey. Y'see, there are concerns that our native bluebell is under threat of hybridisation and they need some facts and figures to back this up. Unfortunately they don't have hundreds and thousands of staff to go roaming the fields and gardens of this fair land and that's where you come in. Spot your bluebells, take a note, send it in, check out the results. Easy.
So next time you're off trotting through one of London's many green spaces, or being chased through a row of back gardens by the local Neighbour Hood watch then perhaps you might like to carry one of the NHM's questionnnaires with you. With all the rain we've been having lately they should be in brilliant bloom. Either that or they'll all be mulch.
Image taken from Corydora's flickr photostream
