13 Sunday Aug 2023
Posted in flowers, wildflowers
When I first spotted these Broad-leaved helleborines sprouting back in June, I despaired for their survival in the dry heat. But several weeks of intermittent rain have brought them back to life, and they look as beautiful as ever.
24 Sunday Jul 2022
Posted in flowers, plants, wildflowers
Tags
British orchids, British wildflowers, Broad-leaved helleborine, Epipactis helleborine, native orchids, orchid
I took these photos of Broad-leaved helleborine (Epipactis helleborine) ten days ago, on 13 July, and even then I had expected them to have shrivelled in the sweltering heat. Now, after the heatwave, I imagine they will have wilted, drooped, possibly died off completely but I will go back soon to check on them as they have such lovely flowers.
01 Sunday Aug 2021
Posted in flowers, plants, wildflowers
I’ve been watching these Broad-leaved helleborines since I first noticed their flower stems emerging through the grasses and wildflowers in a local park in early June.
They are plentiful and lush this year – presumably the very wet spring encouraged their growth but, unfortunately, our week-long heat wave has caused many to shrivel and dry before opening fully. Still, I find their flowers rather beautiful.
12 Sunday Jul 2020
Posted in flowers, nature, wildflowers
During my lockdown meanders around Cardiff’s Grangemoor Park, I’ve been keeping an eye on these Broad-leaved helleborines, watching and waiting for them to bloom. Though I’d only found them in one location in previous years, this year I’ve spotted them in three different places around the park.
Here they are on 17 June, looking healthy, with lots of lush foliage.
Just over a week later, on 25 June, flower spikes have developed well on a couple of plants, so I’m hopeful of a good display.
I don’t manage to get back this way until 11 July, but I’m full of expectation of a mass of blooms. Unfortunately, though we’ve had plenty of rain, a couple of plants look brown and slightly withered (as they’re adjacent to a well-used footpath, I wonder if passing dogs might have urinated on them). A couple of other plants look as if they’ve been trampled.
Luckily, I have found two plants with spikes intact and a couple of flowers open on each. Such pretty little things.
28 Sunday Jul 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, flowers, nature, wildflowers
I almost left it too late!
I’ve been keeping an eye on these Broad-leaved helleborines for over a month now: at my first visit, the flowers scarcely showed a tinge of red; at my second visit, on 14 July, a couple were in bloom but most still to open; and this morning, many of them had already started to go over.
And, as today was quite windy, my photos are not very sharp so I’ve added in a couple from two weeks ago.
Hey ho, at least I managed to see them in all their beauty before they disappear for another year.
28 Friday Jul 2017
Posted in flowers, nature, parks, wildflowers
Tags
British flora, British native orchids, British orchids, Broad-leaved helleborine, Epipactis helleborine, orchid, terrestrial orchid
These Broad-leaved helleborines (Epipactis helleborine) are a little past their best but I just had to post about them, partly because I love all of Britain’s native orchids and partly because these are survivors. You would usually find these terrestrial orchids growing in clearings or along path edges in forests and woodlands but these particular plants are growing on the edges of a former rubbish tip, now urban park, in Cardiff. Despite humans dumping thousands of tons of rubbish on their habitat, then covering that over with imported rocks and soil, laying tarmac paths and planting cultivated plants like cotoneaster, these helleborines have somehow survived. The idea of that made my day!
earthstar 
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