The Dactylorhiza seedlings I have grown from seed have survived and are slowly growing on successfully. I will need to start planning for the next stage in their development as autumn looms. The D. fuchsii plant which I managed to overwinter has started to bloom but very weakly, although I did split it after re-potting it so I have two small plants.
The magnificent D umbrosa which bloomed so well last month has been successfully pollinated and the seed capsules are developing well. I want to make sure I don't lose such a gorgeous plant. The D praetermissa plant I purchased from John Haggar in April also did well, although it did suffer from a bad blackfly infestation, but not as bad as that which effectively destroyed the flower spike of the Gymnadaena conopsis which in the end I cut off. Hopefully the plant will survive.
The 'calcareous' wicking bed, with the various Dact seedlings, D fuchsii plants from last year, D. praetermissa blooming Gymnadaena faring poorly.
D praetermissa
The two D maculata plants purchased from Jeff Hutchings have also done ok, mainly just sitting there as have the two tiny Epipactis palustris plants I got from Richard Manuel. No flowers though. The best flowering spike (apart from the D umbrosa however) was the mystery D praetermissa / purpurella from Jeff H. Not sure if he is correct in the id I will have another look but I will definately try to get some seed from it.
Acid wicking bed - the only orchid blooming is the mystery Dact!
Tonight while potting up I discovered I'd lost two plants, the Anacamptis morio I got in April and the Anacamptis laxiflora which flowered so beautifully earlier in the year, which I was really gutted about. I wasn't really sure that I'd done the right thing with it and obviously I watered it too much - whenever I have seen it it has been in wet meadows but it was obviously a mistake to make this assumption. Ironically this is the only non Dact species I seem to have germinated successfully. In fact they are now looking as though they might need to be brought into weak light.
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