A few years ago I noticed this plant growing under the corner of a hedge in one of my neighbours gardens. i was rather surprised and decided to find out the history of this flower.
The Common Spotted Orchid, Dactylorhiza fuchsii, is not a rare plant, but garden hedges are not its normal habitat. Grassland and open woodlands, especially on soils with a high lime content are more its cup of tea. So why is it under a hedge. It turns out that it was growing, within a the grounds of where my neighbour worked, in an area due for development. So it was rescued and has continued to flourish for a number of years ever since. This flies against all the teaching I've had about our orchids, that because they need a certain fungus in the soil that they grow in they are unlikely to survive if moved. Obviously I'm not advocating anyone breaking the law and digging up Orchids, in general they won't survive, but this one was extenuating circumstances and repaid the kindness it was shown.
2 comments:
We are having quite a contentious time of it here, dealing with development. We "threw the bums out" of our town council with a no-confidence vote because so many of them were so cosy with real estate/developers/builders. Now we're trying to work through developing stricter rules.
Well done, but remember not matter how many times you win, one loss is normally terminal for that particular area you are trying to preserve. Never take your eye of the ball!
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