Find our fabulous wild orchids this summer

The orchid season is well and truly upon us, so why not get hunting for these fabulous flowers?

There are more than 50 species of wild orchid growing in the UK and late May through June is one of the very best times for seeing both numbers and diversity. I always think that sites where orchids grow are very special places and to see them is a privilege, so make sure you tread carefully when out looking. I’ve caught the bug again this year, realising it has been several years since I’ve seen some of our wonderful orchids. Last weekend, I caught up with a couple of crackers and I had another set of targets lined up for Bank Holiday Monday and got lucky again.

On the fly
I took my own advice after featuring fly orchid in the current issue of Nature's Home magazine as a May "must see". Regular readers will know I caught up with fly orchid recently and I was so impressed that I wanted to see some more. A meadow not far from home has them and I managed to find 18 in total. I hadn’t actually worked out where the meadow was, let alone the flowers so I was very happy indeed to find any. It's fun to have a good search for orchids because when you finally find the treasure, it's a great feeling, but if you're limited for time you might want to do a bit of homework first!

The fly orchid is a tricky one to pick up in the grass, but those flowers are unmistakable (image cMark Ward)

At the same site, the spooky-looking bird's-nest orchid grows and after two hours of scanning the shady woodland floor (that included getting seriously lost at one point - word of warning, be careful when you have your head down looking for and at orchids, especially in woodland!), I was about to leave when I got lucky again, bumping in a lady who knew exactly where they were and who kindly pointed me in the right direction. Thank you!

Bird's-nest orchid lacks chlorophyll, so look a little ghostly on the woodland floor (image cMark Ward)

Man orchid is one of those orchids that just makes you smile. I'm always super happy after seeing them. You can see how it got its name from my snapshot below. Look at all those arms and legs! Two colonies provided more than 250 in total, plus common twayblade, early purple orchids and the first bee orchid of the year for me (in bud).

Like a human tower, tiny men stack up along the stem of the man orchid (image c Mark Ward)

It’s getting a bit late for some of the first orchids of the year – early purple and green-winged which likes unimproved meadows. Seeing a couple of hundred early purples, including some still in good flower, I decided to visit a green-winged orchid colony at a wonderful traditional ridge and furrow meadow that was stuffed with wildflowers and calling grey partridges. There were 1,000 or so still in nice flower, alongside hundreds of common spotted orchids, in a fitting finale to the day.

Green-winged orchids grow in meadows that are full of wildflowers - and free from pesticides (image c Mark Ward)

Go orchid hunting
Track down your local orchid sites and keep an eye on unmown verges which are great spots for bee orchids over the next few weeks. RSPB reserves are great places to look, so check out our new reserve pages and see what's on offer near you. Woods, meadows, chalk downland, old quarries, coastal dunes and marshes are also good places for orchids, so take a wander and see if you can discover some - you won't be disappointed.