"Pam Moore" wrote in message

Snip

NO. Why deplete the countyside even further of this vanishing English
bluebell?

Nick Maclaren answers that.

Chiltern sell packets of bluebell seed.

I wonder what species they are.

Might they be Spanish or hybrids? I would not risk buying them unless sure
that they are not.

Are they collected from the wild for sale? Some wild flower seeds are
collected for profit in this and other contries. Many of the seeds so
collected will never live to "see" the earth. It's the commercial
collection and sale of wild flower seeds that should be banned. However, if
the market was to dry up . . . . . . . but I dare say there will always be
some who are too lazy to collect a few such seeds for their own use.

Regarding the fact that I collected 8 ounces of bluebell seeds, a
microscopic percentage of those available. The areas from which I
collected were so thick with bluebells that there was hardly room for any
more to grow except in the "ploughed" areas left by the tractors and logging
trailers where there were thousands of squashed bluebell bulbs and
perchance, millions of seeds already. A couple of ounces of my seeds were
scattered by the steward in a wooded conservation area where there was only
a few bluebells and some I grew on (mainly because I received no request for
seeds after a letter in the local press). The rest "fell at the wayside"
where I hope many flourished.

Regards

Ron