First wild orchids of the season!

[camille1585]

The first wild orchids of the season are appearing in my region. In my area of the Beaujolais there are not many different ones, but that's fine with me. I have found Orchis mascula and what seems to be Dactylorhiza maculata, as well as crosses between them and pale and/or albino types. These are all very similar, so I'm not sure which are what. One field used to have many of them, but their numbers have declined due to people picking them and farmers making hay. So 2 years ago I started a repopulation program, so to speak. I pollinate flowers, then come back when the pods are ripe to sow the seeds in the field, which is now used for livestock (the pods now have time to ripen before being cut down). As a result, there were less than 10 plants two years ago, and last weekend I counted 83!!