Mediterranean-climate terrestrials are starting!

[Roberta]

Lots more to come, but here are some of the early ones. Of the Europeans, Ophrys tenthredinifera and Ophrys speculum. Orchis italica (the "little man" orchid) and Orchis anatolica. From Australia, Diuris orientis and Diuris magnifica. And first Thelymitra of the season, the natural hybrid Thelymitra x macmillanii (red form)

This group of orchids is a perfect match for the climate where I live. They're dormant during the hot, dry summer. No water, I just put them where the sprinklers don't hit and ignore them. I start watering in mid-October once nights cool off. (Any rain that falls will be during autumn and winter, but not reliable... so "rain" comes from a hose unless Mother Nature occasionally cooperates)

The Thelymitra only opens in bright sunshine, if it's cloudy it stays closed.