Kent orchid trip...

Kent is undoubtedly one of the best places in the UK for wild flowers and in particular has a large number of orchid species - some incredibly rare.

My brother and I have been planning to make the trip to see some of the specialities for over 30 years but we never seemed to get around to it, until this year. But last Saturday we made the trip to the farthest reaches of 'The Garden of England' to see two new orchid species for us - Late Spider Orchid and Lady Orchid. We ended up seeing 13 species over the course of the day.

The beginning of June is the perfect time to visit. Most orchids are at their peak and you stand a good chance of seeing a few late and early species too. We started at Folkestone for the Late Spider Orchid and soon found (with the help of some great directions) a small colony in a fenced-off area about 30 ft x 10 ft in size.  In the UK Late Spider Orchid is confined to Kent's short-turfed calcareous downs and only a few locations at that. It's quite shocking to look at this small enclosure, guarded by an electric fence to stop grazing cattle and realise that this is one of the better sites for it. It's a beautiful plant.

A single plant is deliberately left outside
the enclosure for photographers.

Late Spider Orchid

Late Spider Orchid, Folkestone, Kent

It's a beautiful location overlooking Folkestone and the sea and we also picked up a few Man Orchids here, a species we've not see for a very long time. There were good numbers of Adonis Blue and Small Blue on the wing. I managed to get a photo of the former on my phone.

Adonis Blue, Folkestone, Kent

Adonis Blue, Folkestone, Kent

After admiring the Late Spiders we moved on to our next location to see the Kent Monkey Orchids. Monkey Orchids are only known from two sites, Hartslock near Henley-on-Thames and Park Gate Down, which is owned by the Kent Wildlife Trust.

We quickly located the orchids, which are easy to find scattered across the reserve. What struck us the most is how much more robust they are compared to the Chiltern plants. They also flower a month later and are a richer pink colour.

Monkey Orchid, Kent

The 'monkey' like flowers

Monkey Orchid, Park Gate Down

Another close-up of the flowers

Seeing the Monkey Orchids was a real surprise as we weren't sure they would be out but I'm so glad we stopped to take a look, they are beautiful.

It was still only about 9:30 and we were on to our next stop, just 6 miles up the road. We arrived at Yockletts Bank and within minutes found our next target species for the day, Lady Orchid. The southeast is the stronghold of these magnificent orchids, one we have both waited a long time to see. Some specimens are knee height and almost look a little out of place growing among the trees.

Lady Orchid, Yockletts Bank, Kent

Less spotty version.

Lady Orchid

Lady Orchid

Our last call of the day was Noar Hill in Hampshire to try and locate Musk and Frog Orchid.  Despite a thorough search, we didn't see either though. We ended up seeing 13 species of orchid, which is a pretty good tally for a day out in the UK:

Late Spider Orchid, Man Orchid, Monkey Orchid, Lady Orchid, Common Twayblade, Common Spotted Orchid, Fly Orchid, Greater Butterfly Orchid, Pyramidal Orchid, Chalk Fragrant Orchid, Broad-leaved Helleborine, White Helleborine and Early Purple Orchid,