Are Spanish bluebells a weed?

[Cheesypea]

I've dug up a load of Spanish bluebells from my garden as I've moved alot of plants around this year. They do look lovely but I've heard that they're a pest/weed, why is this. Would you put them back in the garden or not ?

They are only weeds if you don't want them there. Personally I like them.

A weed is simply a plant growing in the wrong place, but the particular problem with Spanish bluebells is that they spread very rapidly and hybridise with native bluebells and, eventually, might wipe them out. I put them in the garden waste bin.

Firstly, despite what you read on the internet, botanists tell me that they are unlikely to be the true spanish bluebell Hyacinthoides hispanica, which are uncommon in this country, but more likely to be the hybrid Hyacinthoides x massartiana between our native bluebell and the spanish bluebell.

The problem is that the hybrid is invasive and they will still hybridise with our native bluebell Hyacinthoides non-scripta.

Our native bluebells are really important - although they are found elsewhere, we have the largest population worldwide, so it's important that we preserve it.

I would replace them with native bluebells, which are more delicate with a nodding head rather than a stiff upright stem, darker blue flowers and a scent. But it's a matter of preference unless you are close to a bluebell wood, in which case you should avoid spanish bluebells.

...avoid Spanish bluebells or the hybrids

I've heard that they're a pest/weed, why is this.
Speaking from experience, they are invasive.
One year you think "aw, that's nice" then a few years down the line it's "the ruddy things are everywhere!"

I have a few when I first moved in (summer time) and a huge totally bare patch at the back of a bed which I thought was odd. The next spring that patch was choc full of bluebells, and they literally crowd out EVERYTHING else leaving the ground bare the rest of the year. They spread like crazy and are an absolute bugger to get out. They will grow back from bulbs chopped in half, they will grow up from deep deep in the ground and grow out and around paving slabs placed over the top. Weed fabric just blanches them. And they ruin the native ones - so all in all they are a complete menace. Pretty but a menace.

Thanks so much everyone x
Yes they are pretty buggers.
Maybe put them in a pot?

@Cheesypea nope, because the insects which pollinate them will then cross-pollinate any native ones in the area, and continue the problem.

I say this, but I don’t pull them up every year, either. 🙄

Bugger so they're destroying native bulbs in the local area.
So dont put them back in.

Our garden is full of them and I don't know when to try and dig them out. Before they come into flower? I can't quite remember where they are until they appear

Last year I dug lots out in autumn, then again when the ones I'd missed or chopped in half came up in early spring, then again when they came back in late spring, then again when the ones I'd still managed to miss had flowered (figured I may as well enjoy them once they got that far) in early summer. I have still come across bulbs when I've dug this autumn. I suspect it will be an ongoing thing over some years to actually get rid of them.

So it's going to be an ongoing process. Are the bulbs quite small, about a cm long?

No, they’re bigger than that @efeslight. If the bulbs you’re referring to are white and about 1cm diameter then they might be wild garlic bulbs (also a nightmare!).

I have found that the bulbs in my garden range from tiny (presumably baby offsets) to larger. Some are even less that a cm diameter but all are longer than that, maybe 2-3cm long and white. These are definitely bluebells because I have dug them up when in growth and positively identifiable. They look a bit like spring onions but deep under the ground rather than on the surface like a print onion would be iyswim.

When you've seen a bank of native bluebells, with their delicate arching stems, the spiky flowers all over the place Spanish ones do look a bit shit.

It's probably easiest to dig them out when they are in flower.

Native bluebells are my favourite flower. Bloody Spanish ones can't compare to them

I've read that you need to keep them in a plastic bag for ages until they die, then chuck out.

I root them out in my garden and when I've finally got rid, I'll plant the beautiful native variety.

There are some Spanish ones in the garden we moved to. I dug a load out earlier this year, no doubt more will come up in spring, I will hopefully get rid of a load more then.

What - keep them in plastic bags after digging up? Or the leaves while they're still in the ground?

Yes keep me in a plastic bag for donkeys until they die apparently