May time orchids

I love the month of May. To me it is one of the best times of the year, wildflowers are blooming and there's that bright fresh green you get when trees first come into leaf. I headed out on some walks across the weekend and now is a really good time to see some wild orchids.

I visited Park Gate Down, mainly to catch the Early Purple orchids before they die off. Crimson patches were dotted around and it was good to see some were still at the best as most had started to go over.

Getting closer to the ground to take some photos I also saw that Fly orchids (aptly named) were starting to flower and the extremely rare Monkey orchids (below right) were also beginning to open up. There were some other large orchids growing but at this stage my limited knowledge means I can't tell what they are just yet.

I will be heading off to see the beautiful Green-winged orchids at Marden Meadows next week. I know they are flowering right now so hopefully they still will be at their best (the weather too!). I visited there last year and it was fantastic with thousands of them in full bloom (see below) along with water violets around the ponds and other unusual species such as midland hawthorn and adder's tongue fern. I also spied a fair few white helleborines growing in a woodland near to me so it's a great time to be out and about!