Fun Facts about Spring & Summer Flowers

Bluebells usually flower from mid April to late May and are a wonderful sign that spring and warmer weather has arrived!

Bluebell flowers are a beautiful violet blue colour and have a strong, sweet smell.

They have 6 petals which curl up at the ends and look like little bells.

Bluebells grow in western Europe and almost half of the bluebells in the world live in the UK!

Bluebells like growing in the shade and, as a result, you will find them in woodland, as well as under hedges and fields.

When lots of bluebells grow together, they look like a beautiful blue carpet! They don’t like to be disturbed so we must be careful not to step on them when out walking.

In folklore, it was said that at daybreak (the start of the day), bluebells ring to call fairies to the woods.

Forget-me-nots are little flowers which appear in April and May.

They are usually sky blue but sometimes pale pink or white and all have yellow centres.

You’ll often see forget-me-nots at the front of garden borders and at the edges of paths.

The forget-me-not belongs to a group of flowers called ‘Myosotis’. This word comes from two Greek words, ‘myos’ meaning ‘mouse’ and ‘otos’ meaning ‘ear’.

It was thought that the shape of the forget-me-not petals looked like mouse ears. I’ve included a picture of a little mouse for you to compare!

What do you think?

Dandelions flower from March to October.

The flowers are bright yellow and the clock seedheads are white and fluffy.

They are an important source of nectar and pollen for bees, butterflies and other insects.

The flowers usually close up when it rains and at night. They open again in the morning.

You can eat all parts of the dandelion – the flowers, leaves and roots. They are rich in vitamins A,C and K!

The name Dandelion actually comes from the French words ‘dents de lion’ which means lion’s teeth. This is because of the jaggedy edges of their leaves.

I’ve included a picture of lion’s teeth for you to compare! Do they look like scary teeth to you?

Sunflowers originally came from North America but we now grow them all over the world.

There are over 70 types, from giant to small, and they can be yellow, dark red and orange.

Sunflowers really do love sunshine! Whilst they are growing, they turn their heads to follow the sun. This helps them get as much sunlight as possible to grow bigger and bigger. Amazing!

Sunflowers are an important source of nectar and pollen for bees, butterflies and ladybirds.

In the autumn, after the sunflower has finished flowering, its centre turns into sunflower seeds. Each sunflower can contain up to 2,000 seeds!

We can eat sunflower seeds and animals, such as birds and squirrels, love eating them too as you can see here!

Daisies are little flowers which bloom from March to October.

You will find them growing in grass in lots of places, such as gardens, grass verges, parks and fields.

Did you know that daisies grow everywhere in the world except Antartica?!

Daisies are actually 2 flowers in 1. The yellow middle bit is called the ‘eye’. It’s made of lots of tiny flowers called florets. Bees love them as they contain lots of nectar! The white petals around the yellow eye are called rays.

The name ‘daisy’ originally comes from the words ‘day’s eye’. This is because during the day, you can see daisies’ bright yellow eyes wide awake. At night, daisies close their petals over their eyes. They open them again in the morning, just like we do!