Flowering season 2015
info: in the northern part of the forest, called ‘Nootheide’, trees have been felled this year (wood extraction). Trunks and crowns are lying in various places in that part of the forest and there are piles of firewood along the trails. From 1 March to 30 June however, the wood extraction stops (“schoon” time) and the loggers are not allowed to continue their work. “Schoon” time comes from the German “Schonen” meaning ‘save’, ‘protect’. The “schoon” period helps to protect the vegetation (spring flowers), to ‘save’ and not to disturb the nesting birds.
Sunshine combined with a lot of blooming wood anemones creates a beautiful spring atmosphere. In the next days, the forest will be beautiful with flowering anemones. On the plateaus the bluebells have started blooming. The purple blue color will spread throughout the forest in the following days. The best time will only start during the weekend or next week. The first young beech leaves appear on the low beech. Common Moschatel and Dog’s Mercury are blooming. If you can, come and visit the forest on weekdays to enjoy spring in peace and quiet, as it may get busy at the weekend.
There are wood anemones in abundance: everywhere, the forest floor is white and green. This weekend the forest will be beautiful with flowering anemones. The warm period will help the bluebells to come into bloom. Every day more bluebells are flowering, but a “blue carpet” is definitely not yet there for this weekend. Probably the best periode for a ‘blue forest’ will be April 20th-30th. A prolonged warm period may accelerate flowering. The magical time can then start before April 20th. It’s best to keep an eye on the site to follow the evolution of the flowering.
Wonderful! Sun! Warmth! Lesser celandine and wood anemones enjoy full of blissful spring weather. With their petals spread wide open they don’t miss a minute of sunlight. The next days many more anemones will flourish. The white flowers of the anemones are like white stars on a deep green carpet of bluebell leaves. The wild daffodils are starting to go over. Here and there flower buds of wild bluebells are shooting up. In many plants the flower buds are still deeply hidden. A “blue carpet” is definitely not yet there for this weekend. This weekend the forest will be beautiful with flowering anemones.
Brrr, the bluebells seem to be cold. They wrap their slender stipules around the young petals. The wood anemones enjoy the first rays of sunlight. The daffodils (Lent lily) give the forest a yellow Easter. In the edges of the wood, white flowering Blackthorn bushes catch the eye. The weather forecast look good from mid next week. The wood anemones will steal the show next weekend (April 11-12th).
The wild daffodils are still pretty but they are starting to go over. These are the last days to enjoy the ‘Easter flowers’. Flowering anemones take over the forest. But they long for the sun. The first bluebells are flowering. But the forest is still ‘green’ and a “blue carpet” is definitely not yet there for the next week. The second half of April will be the best time for flowering bluebells.