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.
29 Wednesday Jun 2022
Posted in flowers, wildflowers
Yesterday I went for a meander to check how the orchids were doing this year on the Cardiff side of the River Ely. You might remember in early June last year I blogged about the Fiesta of Bee orchids happening along the verges of Ferry Road near Cardiff Bay. I hoped I hadn’t left it too late for this year’s display; the verges are a little more overgrown, the grasses taller, but the Bee orchids are flowering again in their hundreds and look just as amazing.
29 Sunday May 2022
Posted in flowers, wildflowers
… seeing my first Bee orchid for 2022!
15 Sunday May 2022
Posted in flowers, wildflowers
You could’ve knocked me down with a feather when I spotted these Twayblades (Neottia ovata) during this morning’s walk. I’ve visited this place at least once a month for the last five years, probably more frequently at this time of year to look for butterflies and other insects, yet I’d never noticed these orchids before.
And there were plenty of them – 20, 30, possibly more. Their green colour does mean they blend into the background of other plants but still. It was a lesson, to always pay attention … because just look at the beauty I’ve been missing!
05 Sunday Sep 2021
Posted in autumn, wildflowers
Tags
Autumn Lady’s-tresses, autumn-flowering orchid, British orchids, native orchids, orchid, Spiranthes spiralis
A botanical treat I look forward to at this time of year is the final show of native orchids for the year, the delicately formed and perfectly named Autumn lady’s-tresses (Spiranthes spiralis).
When I first started visiting Cosmeston Lakes Country Park only one small clump of these little beauties was known but a couple of years ago another much large colony was discovered. I didn’t do an exact count but there were easily 30 stems, many not yet open, and probably more obscured by the other wildflowers.
They grow perilously close to a children’s playground area and are in constant danger of being trampled so let’s hope they survive to bloom another year.
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.
03 Sunday Jun 2018
Posted in flowers, nature, parks, wildflowers
Tags
#30DaysWild, 30 Days Wild, Bee orchid, British orchids, Common spotted orchid, Cosmeston, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Greater butterfly-orchid, orchid, Southern marsh orchid
For day three of #30DaysWild I went searching for orchids at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, and I got lucky. The Common spotted-orchids are blooming in good numbers now, two of the small number of well hidden Greater butterfly-orchids are flowering, I found my first Bee orchid of the season, and I think I found my first Southern marsh-orchid as well. It couldn’t get much better than that!
Common spotted-orchid (Dactylorhiza fuchsii)
Greater butterfly-orchid (Platanthera chlorantha)
Bee orchid (Ophrys apifera)
Southern marsh-orchid (Dactylorhiza praetermissa) (and Common blue butterfly)
01 Friday Sep 2017
Posted in flowers, nature, wildflowers
On the first calendar day of autumn it seems entirely appropriate to showcase Britain’s tiny autumnal orchid with the perfectly suited name of Autumn Lady’s-tresses (Spiranthes spiralis).
Growing up to 20cms (7.8ins) tall but often much smaller, these little beauties can be hard to spot – last week I couldn’t find them at Cosmeston (a friend spotted the first-ever sighting of them there recently) though I managed to spot these at Aberthaw Nature Reserve last Sunday. They are mostly coastal plants because they prefer sandy dunes or calcareous grasslands. In a good year, they can grow in colonies of hundreds, as thickly as grass, often in seaside suburban lawns.
It’s easy to see where the epithet spiralis comes from: the flowers spiral around the stem as they grow, though you might not guess these were orchids at all until you took a close look at the flowers. Their orchid shape is distinctive but the hairiness of the pure white petals seems a little incongruous. I presume the common name of Lady’s tresses comes from a resemblance to spiralling ringlets.
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!
09 Friday Jun 2017
Posted in flowers, nature, wildflowers
Tags
Anacamptis pyramidalis, Bee orchid, British flora, British orchids, Common spotted orchid, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Dactylorhiza fuchsii, Greater butterfly-orchid, native orchids, Ophrys apifera), orchid, Platanthera chlorantha, Pyramidal orchid
The meadows at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park are awash with orchids, Common spotted-orchids, (Dactylorhiza fuchsii), Bee orchids (Ophrys apifera), Pyramidal orchids (Anacamptis pyramidalis) and, in a secluded location off the beaten track, a tiny smattering of Greater butterfly-orchids (Platanthera chlorantha). To walk along the paths amongst these beauties is simply magical!
earthstar 
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