May and June are my favourite months of the year, as the wild flowers and particularly the orchids appear.
There are 14 different species of Orchid on the farm. Some of them are very easy to find, and quite abundant. Others don't flower as regularly or nearly as abundantly. Those we tend to keep their locations more private as some of them are tiny and easily trodden on by even the keenest eye. During lockdown I decided I wanted to find each one in the one season. The Bird's nest orchid only flowers every few years so once we had seen that I knew we were in with a chance. The two species I hadn't ever seen were the Lesser twayblade which is TINY and the Early marsh orchid. We found the Lesser twayblade plant but not in flower. We didn't find the Early marsh.
We put that right on Friday evening this last week though, as we found several plants up in the bog just north of the path from Larach Mhor (Reudle schoolhouse) to Glac Gugairidh. I was very excited!
Here are some of the ones I have photographed so far this summer. I will add more as I find them!
Early marsh orchid
Early marsh orchid
Early purple orchid
Early purple orchid
These grow on exposed bits of cliff beyond Haunn and out on the Point. They are hardy and the first of our orchids to appear in the spring.
Fragrant orchid
Fragrant orchids smell divine. They grow in grassland, and begin to flower at the beginning of June. We have in the past been able to smell them before we saw them. This was in the Black Park, but sadly the Bracken has encroached from all sides and they are not as numerous as they were.
Heath spotted orchid
These are very numerous. They grow on heathy and poorer ground. This one is much shorter than most - it was growing on a rocky outcrop with very thin soil! This could account for its strong pink colour. The colour does vary - from white to this strength of pink. Sheep love them! And if the sheep accidentally get into a field of orchids they will all disappear overnight.
Narrow leaved helleborine
There are one or two of these growing on the way up the track from the bridge over the Ensay Burn towards the tin schoolhouse. They are protected by cages to stop the rabbits from eating them. Their numbers are slowly increasing, thanks to Prasad's care for them.
Northern marsh orchid
You can find these in the garden at Haunn, just by the gate there is a ditch and Northern marsh orchids grow in there. They also grown in the Black Park and the Haunn field, visible from the track. Their deep pink/purple flowers are easily spotted in the grass.
