Pyramidal Orchid in shade It is sometimes misleading to take what you read at literal face value. A good example of this came to light recently. If you see descriptions of Pyramidal orchids they will nearly always tell you that these lovely magenta flowers grow on sunny hillsides with chalky soils. This is generally true and gives a good indication of where they are most easily found. It is not, however, the whole story. In some areas these normally sun loving plants have taken to growing in shade, in fact deep shade,. Not only that but they are growing in a rich humus layer on top of underlying limestone. It was a surprise when I came across them, because it was a thriving colony but did remind me that these pants can be very opportunistic and when the situation is right can do very well. In this particular case I suspect that growth and development in conjunction with their symbiotic fungus was a rather more protracted affair than normal (and it has been suggested that it takes up to five years for leaves to appear under normal conditions). So by the time I saw these plants in flower they may well have been nearly ten years old already. Our own Pyramidal orchids are coming along well and having had accelerated growth will be on sale next year.
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