DOLLAR Glen is such a magical place at this time of year with the shimmering blue carpets of bluebells and the green freshness of the tree leaves bringing a real vibrancy to the air.

Also known as wild hyacinths in Scotland, bluebells are stunning flowers and with a beauty that inspired the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins to describe them as a “blue buzzed-haze” with “wafts of intoxicant perfume”.

It was a flower that totally captivated him and held him in such star-struck awe that on another occasion he wrote: "They came in falls of sky-colour washing the brows and slacks of the ground with vein-blue."

Ramsons or wild garlic are also in full bloom just now in several parts of the glen, their pungent garlicky smell hanging heavy in the air. The delicate frilly white flowers form drifts in the shadier parts of the wood, bringing white against dark and such lovely contrast.

Also carpeting many of the darker and more humid recesses is opposite golden-leaved saxifrage - a real tongue twister of a plant. At first glance it often appears as a simple blotch of greenness, but on hunkering down to your knees for closer examination, this little mat of vegetation transforms into gentle shades of lime and yellow.

The tiny flowers of opposite-leaved golden saxifrage are so small and intricate that one wonders at their ability to tempt insects. But attract they do and the flowers are pollinated by spring-tails and small flies. This is one of our commonest early spring plants and always a joy to discover along wet woodland flushes and shaded burns.

Look out too for mountain pansies on the slopes above Dollar glen – they are one of my favourite wild flowers. They bloom now and then have a second flourish later in the year.