Flowering season 2023

A lovely spring day in the woods. Sun from the morning, almost windless. Perfect weather to enjoy the budding spring in the woods. The Wood anemones are now in full bloom. And on a sunny day, their white flowers transform large areas of the forest floor into a snow-white carpet of flowers. Along the paths, the yellow star-shaped flowers of Lesser celandine add a yellow edge to that sea of flowers. Most Bluebells have yet to bloom. Certainly the flanks of the valleys are still completely green, filled with the countless narrow Bluebell leaves. The plateaus where the sun can heat the soil all day long, are already getting a blue-purple hue. When peace returns to the forest at dusk, with a bit of luck, an encounter with a Roe deer can be a nice end to a spring walk in the woods.

Practical information about the organization of the Bluebell Festival can be found on this page.
The Vlasmarktdreef will be closed to traffic from Saturday April 8th. It is recommended to use Parking 11 Houtveld and Parking 1 Hogebermweg from then on.

It is now ‘wood anemone time’ in the forest. On a sunny day, all flowers are open and facing the sun. In large parts of the forest there is a sea of white flowers. On the plateau of the ‘Tranendal’, the first wild hyacinths (bluebells) provide the beginning of a purple-blue carpet of flowers. The flanks of the valleys will remain ‘green’ for the time being. Due to less sunlight per day, flowering always starts slower there. Along the edges of the paths, the Belgian gagea will bloom for a while. The ‘yellow suns’ of Lesser celandine are much more and will also give color to the edges of the paths for longer. The pointed inflorescence appears between the large leaves of the Lords-and-Ladies. Wood sorrel flourishes on acidic soils and in the shade of coniferous trees. The next 8 to 10 days you can enjoy the Wood anemones. Flowering bluebells are added every day.

The flowering of the wild daffodils is past its peak. On a gloomy day they remain the most striking spring bloomers in the forest. But the wood anemones are ready to transform the forest into a white flower carpet as soon as the days get sunnier. The beautiful delicate sheath Belgian gagea blooms. Its fine yellow stars hardly noticed between the somewhat larger flowers of Lesser celandine. Both mainly grow just next to the path. Dwarf periwinkle is also in bloom. And the first purple-blue flowers of the bluebells appear, but it is mainly the elongated, grass-green leaves of the hyacinths that give color to the forest floor. Blackthorn blooms in the forest edge, its white flowers stand out from afar.

Snowdrops continue to bloom. Not all Lords-and-ladies have black spots on their leaves. The kidney-shaped leaves of celandine appear in the sunny edges along the paths. Leaves of wild daffodils and bluebells poke through the carpet of arid beech and oak leaves. The beginning of a flower bud can be seen here and there in the daffodils. There is still no trace of the wood anemones. However, at a certain point they will ‘overtake and overtake’ the bluebells and provide a white flower carpet for the bluebells to color the forest purple-blue. The scroll-round, gossamer-thin, basal leaves of the Belgian gagea appear in the edges of the paths. It is fortunate that they are often in bundles, otherwise they would not be noticed at all. The hazel and yellow dogwood bloom in the forest edge. With the hazel it is a bit of a search for the tiny female flowers with their red stigmas. The male yellow catkins stand out from afar. Because there are no leaves on the bushes and trees yet, now is the ideal time to observe birds in the forest. Meowing buzzards and whirring and hammering woodpeckers attract attention.

The temporary lacework of the night frost will remain visible as long as the sun’s rays don’t reach it. The blue-green leaves of the wild daffodils pierce through the arid carpet of leaves, and the beginning of a yellow flower bud can be seen here and there . The grass-green leaves with a ‘bow-shaped’ top of the bluebells also start peeping through, but that is not exceptional in this period. The leaves of the Lords-and-ladies have developed more. Yellow dogwood and hazel are in bloom at the edge of the forest. Yellow dogwood with small yellow flowers, hazel with its striking yellow male catkins. Its female flowers are less conspicuous as they have no petals and consist only of a small flower bud from which the red stigmas protrude; these are sticky and ready to catch the pollen that the wind blows from the male catkins. The Rose Bedeguar galls stand out on roses. The spherical, moss-like galls are like “apartment blocks” with multiple incubators for the larvae.
With some luck you can see a roe deer. Bring along your binoculars if you have them: as there are no leaves on the trees and shrubs yet, you can quietly observe the animals from a distance.
The bridge in the middle of the forest over the RO will be broken down in the summer, after the construction holiday. It will be replaced by a 65 m wide ecoduct, with a 5 m wide path for walkers and cyclists. In preparation, some trees will be felled before March 15th where the embankments of the ecoduct will come.

Snowdrops, the first signs that winter is gradually turning into spring. Their narrow leaves pierce through the frozen soil and the carpet of leaves on the ground. Fortunately, they can withstand a layer of snow and the frost that will certainly strike again. They can withstand temperatures down to -30°C, thanks to homemade ‘antifreeze’ in their leaves. Starch from the bulb is converted into sugars that act as ‘antifreeze’ in the leaves. As they flower so early, snowdrops do not rely on pollinators to reproduce. Instead, they spread via bulb division. That is why they are often found so close together. However, they may still be visited by bumblebees and other insects on a particularly warm day.
The flowers also start appearing on the yellow dogwood. The male catkins of the hazel tree sprout and wait for the first warmer days to send their pollen into the world via the wind.
It is now planting time in the forest. The planting material that was previously bundled in the ground to protect it from drying out is taken to the planting sites. Parts of the forest where the Norway (European) spruces died in large groups due to an infestation of the Larger eight-toothed European spruce bark beetle, an annoying beetle for a number of tree species, have now been replanted with different species of deciduous trees. And between the Hallerbos and the Lembeekbos some more trees have been planted at the ‘Heldenbos’ where the first trees were planted in 2021.