Every year we try and find new plants where the owner will provide us with seed that we can grow and eventually offer for ale to the public. This year we have been lucky because as we have been able to find Heath Spotted Orchids, Dactylorhiza maculata, which likes a more acid soil than many of our native species. It is very similar to the Common Spotted Orchid, Dactylorhiza fuchsii, but has fewer flowers on the spike and is also a little bit smaller.
Perhaps more exciting than that undoubtedly is, comes the news that we have seeds from the Broad Leaved Helleborine, Epipactis helleborine. They come from the very plant pictured here.
Perhaps more exciting than that undoubtedly is, comes the news that we have seeds from the Broad Leaved Helleborine, Epipactis helleborine. They come from the very plant pictured here.
These orchids can be quite large and robust, becoming a very welcome addition to a shady border. This will be the first time that we have grown a helleborine from seed, so we are not quite sure as to how long it might be before they appear on our shopping page. It will, of course, be at least a year, even if they grow faster than any of our other plants.
On the subject of plants for sale, in the Spring we will be increasing our list quite considerably. This has come about by increasing our production in 2014, such is the time it takes to grow our native orchids, even under ideal conditions. Still, that is better than the suggested time it takes for a plant to reach flowering size in the wild. For the Broad Leaved Helleborine it is sometimes quoted as eight years, which is the same for Pyramidal orchids. This is not an unusual length of time for our native plants and even after we have shortened it by careful husbandry, it is still a long time compared to most garden plants, which is partly why they are so expensive.
On the subject of plants for sale, in the Spring we will be increasing our list quite considerably. This has come about by increasing our production in 2014, such is the time it takes to grow our native orchids, even under ideal conditions. Still, that is better than the suggested time it takes for a plant to reach flowering size in the wild. For the Broad Leaved Helleborine it is sometimes quoted as eight years, which is the same for Pyramidal orchids. This is not an unusual length of time for our native plants and even after we have shortened it by careful husbandry, it is still a long time compared to most garden plants, which is partly why they are so expensive.
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