Tag Archive | Orchis

Nodding Ladies Tresses

Nodding Ladies Tresses

In the late summer and early fall, depending on where you live in the eastern U.S., this orchid blooms in wet meadows, bogs and fens. Nodding ladies tresses sprout through the chaotic growth of wild grasses, rushes and sedges with a spire of white blossoms no more than 12 inches tall. I have observed bumblebees […]

The Unobtrusive Orchid

About thirty years ago, while conducting an environmental program for an elementary class, a strange plant caught my eye as I led the students on a trail through a freshwater wetland area in a state park preserve in New York. The plant was about eight inches tall, purplish brown with a spike of tiny blossoms […]

Saving Wild Orchids

Saving Wild Orchids

Out in eastern Long Island, New York, one summer’s day a colleague and I visited a bog surrounded by dunes to determine the health of the habitat. As we approached the area we noticed pinkish/purple flowers growing throughout the bog amongst bulrushes, sedges and wild grasses. At the fen, we discovered the flowers were part […]