Lizard Orchid

Lizard Orchid

One of the benefits of the drought this year has been that we haven't had to mow the lawns very much. Totally unexpectedly, this has allowed orchids that we never knew we had to flower. Earlier this year several clumps of Early Purple Orchids appeared at the end of the orchard and this month we found Fly Orchids and the very striking Bee Orchids along the drive and in the back garden. We think that the undergrowth in the woods has grown more slowly this year, so that we have been also able to see the Lesser Butterfly Orchid. We were already really happy with having four different types of wild orchids on our land, so we were ecstatic when we found a clump of the most magnificent Lizard Orchids today.

Lizard Orchid

The Lizard Orchid is one of the largest naturally occurring orchids of Northern Europe growing to a height of 90cm. The greenish white flowers have the most extraordinary purple-spotted twisted lower lips that radiate out from the plant stem resembling the unfurled ribbons on a maypole. We hope to see more and more of these beautiful wild flowers every year so now we need to work out how to mark these orchids in the lawns so that we don't mow them next year when they are trying to grow.