This season is particularly interesting because there are plenty of wild flowers. Some of which only grow in spring and only on the less maintained plots. One of these plots offered us lots of nice surprises. Like, for example, wild orchids.
So far, we have listed 7 types:
- Lady orchid (Orchis Purpurea) very present, the first to appear
- Elder-flower orchid (Dactylorhiza sambucina) which looks like a white hyacinth. We have only listed one with us
- Pyramidal orchid (Anacamptis pyramidalis) the most present on our land
- Woodcock orchid (Ophrys scolopax) very beautiful because of its pink-purple petals and pink and brown details in the flower
- Early Spider Orchid (Ophrys Aranifera) which resembles the woodcock orchid, but has a brown, almost black flower and green outer leaves
- Long-lipped Serapias (Serapias vomeracea) which hardly looks like an orchid
- Lizard orchid (Himantoglossum hircinum) which closes the season
Our neighbours tell us there are more kinds, but we haven't found them on our land yet. All, except serapias, are protected species according to the INPN (The National Inventory of Natural Heritage). All names are given with reservation, as we are not botanists. However, we recommend the Plantnet app which is super easy to use to recognize all your plants.
Here is the supporting evidence. Will you recognise them? We have added some pictures of Tassel hyacinth (Muscari Comosum), because she is so lovely.