I didn't plant these, they just appeared when we started treating this side of the front lawn as a meadow. They aren't so good this year, possibly because we have had so much rain...and although spring may have been warmer overall, we are still having lower temperatures.
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13 comments:
You have such beautiful sunsets over there.
Your orchid pictures remind me of the time when we had one solitary blue wild orchid in the middle of our lawn area. P was careful to mow around it to ensure it remained undamaged. My niece's three year old daughter visited one day and proudly handed her mother a present. "For you" she said, handing over P's prized orchid.
Wow, amazing to have a butterfly orchid in your garden. They are very rare but most commonly seen on the chalk grassland of southern England and in fact I spotted a small cluster on the chalk of the South Downs on Monday. Orchid spotting is one of my favourite summertime activities and I’m hoping to see more at a meadow day next week at Gilbert White’s house in Selborne, Hampshire. I think there are about 60 UK orchids so a similar number to UK butterflies. Imagine if everyone left their grass to grow through the summer, they too could discover an orchid in the garden! Sarah in Sussex
Anon, I haven't tested, but I think this is anything but alkaline soil!!
Jaycee yes...I remember doing that... visiting friends with my parents when I was very young...and picking a neighbour's sweet peas that were near the dividing fence....he grew them to show....
...they are Mother Nature's gifts to you.
You will always find wild flowers where fertilizer is not used. It's a great year for flowers.
Love seeing your dramatic sunsets! And orchids that grow wild are a great plus in meadow-ing some of your lawn!
3 different types of orchids growing in your meadow is a real win. Last year a couple wild Lady Slippers grew behind my home in a partly shaded forested area (no sign of them today). As for my lawn, white clover is taking over. The bees love it and unlike lawn, the sunshine/heat does not burn it.
All the orchids I have seen this year have been pink. I'm glad you're treating some of your lawn as a meadow. It's just wonderful how nature will come in and fill any gap.
Your meadow is lovely. Sometimes volunteer plants are great (and sometimes, not!)
Orchids! That is amazing. We have none on our land, sadly, but there is a place with a Canadian environment in our state that has many. It is a rare, protected area, quite unique. I have yet to be able to be there when the orchids are in bloom.
Wow! What a striking sunset!
The orchids are lovely, and isn't it wonderful how they and other gorgeous wildflowers "appear" when we cease mowing.
Beautiful sunset. And I commend you for letting one side of your lawn go to meadow. That seems like a growing trend.
You know, my intention was to let part of our land go unmown this year. It would be a wonderful gift to the wildlife. But...the ticks. OMG. Ticks. We're keeping it cut at this point. Perhaps if we get a good hard winter at some point, it will kill off enough of the population that we will be able to let things grow...
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