Don't miss the bluebells this spring

And if you don't know where to find them, the Woodland Trust's VisitWoods website has a whole section devoted to finding your nearest bluebell wood. The database contains a whopping 14,000 woods, all of which are open to the public. You can bet your bottom dollar that if there are bluebell woods near you, it'll point you in the right direction.

The Wildlife Trusts' woodland reserves all feature in the database. But they've hand-picked a few for us too - ones from all corners of England and Wales - where the bluebells will be spectacular: Brampton Wood in Cambridgeshire; Castle Woods in Llandeilo, Carmarthenshire; Longwood Nature Reserve in Somerset; Selwyns Wood in Sussex; and Saltburn Gill in Cleveland. (There's a much more extensive list here.)

So why have the bluebells been so early? Matthew Oates, a naturalist at the National Trust, puts it down to the mild and dry start to the year. February was the warmest for nearly a decade and March the driest for 40 years.

"The bluebell starts growing in January with the sole purpose to flower before the other woodland plants which have stalled because of the dry weather," he says. "This means that the bluebell is relatively free from competition and attracts the early spring pollinators."

~~~Once upon a time ~~~~ © Philip Male

We are of course talking about the native bluebell here. The bluebells you'll see in towns and cities are most probably the Spanish invader, Hyacinthoides hispanica. The Woodland Trust and Plantlife both have guides (Woodland Trust's here, Plantlife's here) on telling them apart. One example is the difference in colour, natives being a deep, violet blue, Spanish ones a paler blue.

It can, however, be difficult for even experts to tell them apart categorically. One of the problems scientists have had in analysing how much of a problem the invaders have caused was the wide variation in the appearance of our natives. So to make doubly sure you get the right ones, check the VisitWoods website first.

But if you can't get out and enjoy them, here's the next best thing: a slideshow of bluebell pictures from the Springwatch photo group.

We'd love to hear where your favourite bluebell spots are. Or whether your local ones have been earlier this year. The earliest photos in our group were (as far as I can tell) taken on 7 April. Can you beat this?

PS a nice bit of bluebell trivia from Plantlife: it had a vote a few years ago to find a county flower to represent each county in the UK. So many counties voted the bluebell as their favourite that for the second round of voting the bluebell was taken out of the poll. Its position as the nation's favourite is undisputed!

PPS don't forget the Springwatch Easter Special, 8pm Easter Monday. Chris, Kate and Martin are at the Portland Bill bird observatory in Dorset with an in-depth look at spring 2011.

Update: 28 April Have a look at these stunning bluebell pics from the Springwatch photo group.