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| Dactylorhiza fuchsii - ©Penelope Hellyer |
'Dactylorhiza fuchsii - the Common Spotted Orchid - introduced itself in the late 1970s beneath the canopy of Catalpa bignonioides 'Aurea'. This colony increased substantially over the years carefully managed by Philip and me. With the grassy area beneath the Catalpa left to grow, the orchids seeded freely. We mowed in towards the trunk of the mature tree hoping to contain the seeds within this area.
Seventy escapee seedlings, growing in the mowed grass nearby, were transplanted to under the remaining mature apple tree in the bottom orchard. Plugs of plant and soil were dug with the bulb planter to ensure that the orchids would grow on in the soil they liked.'
The Haphazard Gardener - www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1781764131
I love this orchid. It grows on the farm where I was brought up and I'm tempted to dig up a plant for my garden. I have alkaline soil though and they're in acid so I'm not sure if they'd like. Maybe if I dug enough soil with them to give them a start they might do OK?
ReplyDeleteHi Patsy, That's exactly what we did in our 7 acre plot because the soil was quite different from one side of the garden to the other ... mostly heavy clay. Take just one...we used an old bulb planter, the kind you could stand on to get a good plug of soil, but maybe in your case it should be a larger square...and see how it survives.
DeleteI'm going to give it a go. There are several areas quite thick with them so it's not as though I'll be destroying a colony (and the field belongs to my dad who suggested I take some)
ReplyDeleteGood idea...my dad always used to say give it a go anyway ... keep it moist would be my only advice...Good Luck.
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