During the past few days I have spent sometime with local Orchids and have seen 1 new species and 1 new variant of Bee Orchid, Wasp Orchid. All with a few miles or so of my house. I even found a Common Spotted Orchid growing in one of the lawns at the front of my house. Totally unexpected but what a great thrill to find this self setter. Goodness knows where it has come from, but they can take up to 4 years to germinate. It seems to me to be a good year for orchids right across the country. It just goes to show that if you leave your lawn and let nature do the work, you can soon end up with a miniature biosphere on your doorstep and a lawn covered in a multitude of insect loving plants.
My Orchid hunting began at my local patch at Staunton Harold, where I found a number of Common Spotted and Southern Marsh Orchid. Some of the Southern Marsh appear to be hybrids, as they have spotted leaves. I also found a number of spikes of Bee Orchid in the wild flower meadows. So it is a particularly good Orchid year here at Staunton Harold.
Over the weekend I went to see a Lizard Orchid that has been discovered growing on a roadside verge in nearby Leicestershire. This was a new orchid species for me and what a stunning plant. In nearby Staffordshire I made a visit to see a Wasp Orchid, a very rare variant of Bee Orchid. Again growing in a public place on the village green. An extremely attractive Orchid that rounded off a superb few days of plant twitching.
