Terrestrial orchids 2015

[Anthony Darby]

Here are photos of a bum bee with Barlia robertiana pollinia taken in my greenhouse. Here is also a silver-Y moth with greater butterfly orchid pollinia. Photo taken, not by me, when my moth trap was taken to a meadow in Fife.

[Maggi Young]

Poor wee soul in the first pic certainly is carrying a nasty mite burden.  Always distresses me when I see that.

[Anthony Darby]

I think the mites are commensals and don't actually harm the bees. These mites, e.g. Parasitus fucorum are often seen attached to the thorax of bumblebees, whom they use as transport between nests. They scavenge on nest debris, then attach themselves to young queens and hibernate with them. These mites often have even smaller mites living on them!

"A flea hath smaller fleas that on him prey;
and these have smaller fleas to bite 'em,
and so proceed ad infinitum"
Jonathan Swift

[Maggi Young]

That's a comfort, Anthony.  Just looks like an "infestation" ... yuck!

[johnstephen29]

Also Maggie not only did Anthony put your mind at rest he also treated you to a verse from a great Irish author 

[Maggi Young]

Yes, John, Anthony can have his uses, eh? !

[johnstephen29]

He sure does

[Anthony Darby]

Yes, John, Anthony can have his uses, eh? !

Either that, or I'm giving people a pain in the Gulliver!

[Steve Garvie]

Platanthera chlorantha The Greater Butterfly Orchid.
Hard to enthuse over this one; and unlike the Lesser Butterfly Orchid there is no scent!


A lady and her military escort:
Orchis purpurea


Orchis militaris



A touch of blue whilst I wait for the Meconopsis to flower.
Thelymitra nuda

[Tony Willis]

Steve lovely pictures,I can always enthuse over a platanthera.

Some pictures of Dactylorhiza sambucina on Mt. Kymachalan ,Northern Greece,last week

Also Orchis purpurea on Mt vermion

[hud357]

The Orchis militaris is a really nice photo.

Easy (comparatively) to grow?

My dacts and single cyp seem to be doing OK ATM and if that continues I might expand the 'collection' for next season. Would militaris be OK in cat litter and sunshine?

[Corrado & Rina]

Platanthera chlorantha The Greater Butterfly Orchid.
Hard to enthuse over this one; and unlike the Lesser Butterfly Orchid there is no scent!

Gorgeous pictures Steve! I really like Platanthera! Are you growing all of them or are some of the pictures shot in the wild? Can you send a picture of the whole pot? What compost do you use? Sorry for all the questions

Regards

[Steve Garvie]

The Orchis militaris is a really nice photo.

Easy (comparatively) to grow?

My dacts and single cyp seem to be doing OK ATM and if that continues I might expand the 'collection' for next season. Would militaris be OK in cat litter and sunshine?

Thanks!
The militaris is in a mix comprised of coarse gritty sand with some cat litter and 15% loam. It grows in a clay pot in a frame which is unshaded from September to late March/early April. I then apply shading to keep the frame cool and ensure that the plant stays green for as long as possible before dormancy.

[Corrado & Rina]

Thanks!
The militaris is in a mix comprised of coarse gritty sand with some cat litter and 15% loam. It grows in a clay pot in a frame which is unshaded from September to late March/early April. I then apply shading to keep the frame cool and ensure that the plant stays green for as long as possible before dormancy.

Do you use the same for purpurea and platanthera?

Regards

[Steve Garvie]

Gorgeous pictures Steve! I really like Platanthera! Are you growing all of them or are some of the pictures shot in the wild? Can you send a picture of the whole pot? What compost do you use? Sorry for all the questions

Regards

All of my images are of (my own) cultivated plants.

Here is the platanthera in its pot:


It grows in a shaded frame with various Orchis, Anacamptis, Gymnadenia & Dactylorhiza. The plants get more shade than I would wish as I am away from home all day -it is safer to leave the shading on than risk cooking in strong sun under glass (as I have previously found to my cost!).

The Platanthera is in 40% VERY gritty sand:20% perlite:20% cat litter:20% loam and is fed quarter strength "Orchid Focus" liquid feed rather haphazardly through the growing season.
Orchis purpurea is in the same mix as militaris.