Southern Marsh Orchids in a garden setting. As we move into our summer season, we can start to see which species of orchids have thrived during the 2019/2020 winter. Each year, we find a different species does well, due to a particularly dry or wet winter, or warmer temperatures during the winter and spring. This year, it's no exception: the native Southern Marsh orchid is flourishing like never before, and the roots, stems and leaves are all looking very healthy. Similar in its genetic make up to the Common Spotted Orchid, the Southern Marsh orchid is found, in the wild, in wet and boggy are ..read more

The flowering season is now in full swing. These two plants (top is Common Spotted, the one below is a Green Winged) were taking full advantage of the sunny Bank Holiday weekend. If you have the chance to visit a meadow this year, now is the time to do it. Well,, actually, anytime is a good time to visit a meadow, but the orchids are bringing some striking colour to the grasslands at the moment. There is plenty of yellow around, but the blues and reds are more the preserve of our orchids. Of course it is easy to find exceptions to such generalisations, but the idea is sound. At the ..read more

Here's a thing, it is a frequent comment made by casual visitors to our stand at plant fairs that they like orchids - but they can't grow them. It is no use saying we have done the difficult bit and once established orchids are good and robust, but they are. The photograph is a superb example of this. I took the picture about two weeks ago and you can see two Common Spotted orchids, one in the middle and the other towards the top right hand corner. These are both established plants, both several years old and both determined to ignore the potential disruption wrought by the horses hooves ..read more

We have had a very variable Spring this year and it has slowed our plants down quite a bit. We were intending to get our full range onto the web site for sale by now, but nature decided differently. What we intend to do is take all of our available plants with us to the plant fairs we are going to attend, the first one being at the end of April at Spetchley Gardens. We like going to this one as it is the season opener for us. The weather can be a little chilly sometimes, but it is always an entertaining event. Because this is going to be the best way of buying our plants, we are going to take ..read more

​The 12th February is a very important date, for one very good reason. 209 years ago Charles Darwin was born. Besides all of the work he carried out on evolution, distilling observations and making connections in a scientific manner, he did many other things as well. He wrote on the distribution of coral reefs (1842), geology (1844 and later), barnacles (1851), climbing plants (1865), expression of emotions (1872), insectivorous plants (1875) and many other subjects, including in 1862 methods of orchid pollination. It is this one that is of particular interest because young Darwin, born and br ..read more

I was quite surprised to receive a request the other day for Ghost Orchids, Epipogium aphyllum. This was an odd request because this is a Wildlife and Countryside Act Schedule 8 species, which in broad terms mean it is a completely protected species, from the seeds on wards it must be left alone. This particular species also comes with what as a professional grower I would describe as a 'don't even try' label. Ghost Orchids are one of the species which has no chlorophyll, so it remains totally dependent upon its symbiotic fungus throughout its life. Being independent of light to live, it does ..read more

This is the time of year to think forward. My favourite species, the Common Spotted orchid, is a springtime delight. As soon the leaves start coming through with their unique pattern of spots and stripes they proclaim 'Here we are, back again to make you smile.' The one above was flowering for the first time in 2017, in amongst Bloody Cranesbill on a raised flowerbed. Grown from seed it was chronologically three years old, but because of the way we grow our plants it was in fact five growing seasons old. This delightful plant, along with our other garden orchids will be flowering and see ..read more

Just recently the journal Nature published an article by a group who have sequenced a Chinese orchid Apostasia shenzhenica. This may seem a bit obscure as a subject, but it does throw some interesting light on the was that orchids as a whole have become what they are. It does not answer all the questions, but what it does do is give us a glimpse of how very small and simple changes can have a huge affect on the way in which a plant grows. ​Among the interesting aspects of the research that was reported were comparisons of gene activity when compared with other orchid species and plants which ..read more

At this time of year, when lots of people are thinking about starting the new school year, we are thinking about potting up our new season of plants. These are the ones which have been in pots for most of this year, getting used to the weather and developing strong roots. Because we try not to disturb the plants too much, if they are not being sent out they tend to be left to grow unhindered in their pots throughout the year. So usually by now they have some moss and an occasional weed in the pot with them. To make sure they have an unhindered growth in the spring repotting them clears out the ..read more

 This photograph is a source of some disquiet, the problem is easily described, the solution is not. The photo was taken after a shower of rain, which is why the soil is dark. Its normal colour is the red of sand, as it is in fact a soil that originates like much of the soil around north Worcestershire from sandstone. It was taken earlier this year in our meadow and shows what happens when thoughtless walking takes place. There are no rights of way across this land and no public access, it having a stock proof fence all the way round it. Now, however, inconsiderate dog walker have repeat ..read more