The year in Orchids: 2024

Two big pieces of orchid news this year, the first being that longtime friend, Dr Richard Bate, discovered a single Ghost Orchid spike in August of this year.

The previous record was in about 2009, and that was the first sigting for nearly two decades.

It goes without saying that seeing a UK Ghost is the holy grain of UK orchidists, and something almost all of us will never see.

I didn't bother pestering Richard for details, clues or hints on the ocation, as it was the spike was apparently eating within 24 hours of its discovery, and so maybe will be anther decade or two, if ever, one will be seen again.

Kudos to Richard for persistance in keeping on looking.

He's not the only one looking of course, but if the spike is visible for 24 hours, the chances of someone seeing it and recognising it for what it is, are slim, or that those who do seek it, like Jamie, to be there at the right time, despite repeated visits multiple visits year in year out show how difficult if not impossible this is.

Out little orchid bubble usually keeps our news within the small comminity, but even Jen got to hear of the discovery, showing what big news the discovery actually was.

Other good news was word from Jon on his prognosis, and subsequent globetrotting.

But the other big news was that, apart from the Ghost, I have seen all UK and Irish species of hardy orchid, including two Serapias and a Giant.

This was only possible to the help and advice from many people: Mark, Jon, Richard, Sean, Jim and dawn, Tad, Tristan, Steve, Duncan, Jules, and many, many others whithout whom I would never have completed the task, or it would have taken much much longer.

Five species we left to see, three in Ireland and two in Norfolk.

I had seen Dense Flowered Orchid in flower on Rhodes two years ago, but seeing them in Ireland was needed for the tick. But ourluc failed us at three sites in Ireland, as it was unseasonably hot the day we arrived a few before, so all the spikes we saw were pretty much burnt to a crisp. One spike did have a flower or two just about present.

The Irish Marsh Orchid is a robust Dacht, and we came across it at two sites, both coastal. Vibrant coloured and thich of spike, a fine orchid with which to round our Irish trip off.

Before that was another Dacht, the Pugsley's Marsh, named after one of the great Victorian botanists. It's description and even existance causes aeguments, and where we saw it as each defining feature, at least one nearby plant refused to show it. Maybe one that will run and run, or as a rapidly evolving family, the dachts might have more surprises for us over the coming years.

That left two speces, and both would be seen in Norfolk the same day in late July.

The story of how a Scottish and northern English orchid species came to be found at the edge of a Norfolk beach shows how biodiversity can spread.

The landowners at nearby Holkham Hall had fir trees planted, and in the soil were orchid seeds.

Nature does the rest.

There are several small colonies around the woods, but this was/is the most accessible.

The reason for driving from Dover to Wells-Next-the-Sea and back was to complete the UK and Irish Orchid set, as it were. As apart from the legendary Ghost Orchid, by the end of Saturday I would have seen all other species.

It has taken some 14 years, twelve if you look outside of Kent, and involved two two-week holidays to Northumberland, and trips to the New Forest, the Welsh coast, Lancashire, Gloucestershire, Essex, Suffolk and this year, Ireland.

How many species, I hear you ask. Well, depends.

As the Lindisfarne Helleborine is no longer considered a separate species from Dune Helleborine, but was when I saw it. And does the Tongue Orchid or Giant Orchid now be considered UK species as they have naturalised?

I don't know.

Exactly.

We left Dover at half five, having to go up the M20, contraflow and heavy traffic, as the M2 was closed until half ten.

It was a glorious morning, lots of sunshine and little traffic, which was a pleasant surprise.

Over the Thames, or rather under it, then along to the M11 and up through Essex, into Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and finally Norfolk.

Traffic in Brandon was light, and sadly no planes seen moving at RAF Lakenheath, up through Breckland, Thetford Forest to Swaffham, Fackenham and Wells.

Queens Anne's Drive is a long car park owned by Holkham, and folks were arriving to go to the beach. We parked, then set off away from the soon to be busy beach, though light woodland, past a pond, then up and over some dune sacks via a boardwalk to the beach.

From here is was 3,300 steps, or so what3words told me, so we wet off west, along the path at the edge of the woods, until we came to a crossing where two paths met, and just the other side were six tiny plants.

This was it.

These were it.

Creeping Lady's Tresses.

Related to Autumn Lady's Tresses, clearly, but hairier, and much rarer.

I lay down to get shots, whilst Jools looked for other plants. None found, so as the temperature rose, we turned round to walk back to the car, the whole hike having taken just under two hours by the time we reached the car, and just about every parking space taken.

According to maps there is an A road that runs along the north Norfolk coast. This is a joke on all those visitors who think its a quick way of getting between Wells and Sheringham or Cromer. We have footpaths wider than this road in Kent.

I should point out that I am a son of Norfolk, and revel in that fact, and love it that the A149 that runs through places like Cley and Blakeney is barely wide enough for a single car, let alone two to pass, or the buses that come along every hour.

The 15 mile drive took best part of 45 minutes, arriving in Sheringham at the busiest time, with the market taking over half the car park beside the North Norfolk Railway.

No matter, we were not going here, our destination was a side road beside a housing estate, on the other side of the road was a nature reserve, Beeston & Sheringham Commons.

On here was my last species, the Marsh Fragrant.

Until a few years ago, all Fragrants were in the same family, then some DNA work was done, and the suspected differences meant that we had three fragrant species: the more common, er, Common (or Chalk), Heath and Marsh.

We have the Chalk in Kent. I had seen a single spike of Heath in Durham a decade back (still counts), so just the Marsh to see, and the Latin name means dense flowered, I though these would be easy to spot, large pink-lilac orchids of majestic height.

The site is large, and of different habitats, and even when on the notice board it confirmed the species here, no hint of where it might be found.

Marsh was the give away, and in the Central Mire we concentrated our search, and after an hour of huffing, puffing and stepping in muddy pools and bogs, I finally found two small spikes.

I had already found Marsh Helleborines, so pretty sure we were in the right place.

Ten yards away were two much larger spikes, worth the wet foot I got from the floating fen.

Job done.

Unlike in a video game, I didn't get an extra life or added powers, just the job done.

The phone lead us back to the car, I was just about done in. 15,000 steps, but no actual pain, just the effort in what was a very warm day.

We drove back to the main road, then down through my old stamping ground around North Walsham, where we stopped off at the pub beside the river in Coltishall, just for all times sake.

Turns our pizza and ice cold amber ale is perfect when munched and supped beside the river in the beer garden.

Then down to the Fine City of Norwich, onto the A47 and down the A11 home.

We had said that we had been very lucky on the day, with no hold ups the whole journey up, and during our time in the Fine County. Turns out fate had been saving things up for our return trip, and on the Crossing at Dartford.

A car had come to grief on the Kent side, and there was just the lane for the A2 London-bound closed. But a combination of this and rubbernecking caused talbacks to Brentwood, and we inched along taking 75 minutes to reach the A2 and free of jams.

We got home 13 hours after leaving, with just enough energy to have cheese and crackers and two bottles of the new beers.

A fine, fine day.

The Kent season was unspectacular, with no news finds, as far as I know. And my season was curtailed due to a series of injuries which started with my torn knee cartlidge back in January and the months that took to repair, and then a bad ankle before things got better.

The first Early Purple I saw was on 1st April. Other had seen then a few weeks before, but I waited as I would not be able to climb many dows that spring.

The first Early Spider was seen at a small seaside SSSI on 12th April, a single open flower, but that counts.

A post on social media alrted me to a small colony of three Green Wing Orchids were seen just up the coast, so a short walk from a car park lead me to spotting the tiny spikes from 10m away.

After several years of low numbers, Samphire Hoe produced thousands of spikes of Early Spider, with this which probably became the most photographed orchid in Kent within a few days. Jon kindly showed me where it lay hidden very much in plain sight.

It was a very early season, with species apparently being found opn on a near daily basis. Lady Orchids were fully out in places before the end of April, Fly out on the 11th of the same month.

We paid our annual visit to Marden on 4th May, and were rewarded with all three meadows to ourselves in the early bright sunshine.

The early Late Spider appeared on 10th May, and what followed was another bumper year for the ultra rare orchid.

Meanwhile, the reserve at Lydden which just over a decade ago showed 70 or so spikes, now boasts thousands over a small area, and there is now barely enough room between them in which to safely step.

I found a new site for Lizards on Thanet, but at the same site the yellow Man are all but extinct, sadly.

Our favourite site yealded twenty three Bird's-nest spikes, which was a surprse as I had been there the day before Terry found them.

So it goes.

Man Orchids were also found at Sandwich Bay, and I was told of a new, but sadly threatened colony of Bee near to Deal.

My orchid eyes did find a Musk spike or two this year after two years drawing a blank.

Our two garden Pyramidals reappeared again, and I have found their wintergreen rosettes over the autumn, so they will both return in 2025 too.

The end of the season came quickly, with Marsh Helleborines out by the end of June, then a pause before the final three species, Broad=leaved and Violet Helleborines and Autumn Lady's Tresses.

For me, the season ended on 5th August when I made it up Lydden Down to see the ALTs in flower.

And that was that.