Orchid update 30th April

The number of Orchid rosettes found by the end of April is an increase over last year which itself was a record year for Orchids here. However beneath the headline figures - 183 in 2023 and 142 in 2022 there are substantial differences field by field. This year 86% of the rosettes were almost equally divided between the East and West Fields, the two with the largest Orchid populations but last year the equivalent percentage was 49%. One big effect was the reduction in Orchids found in the South Field from 48 to 4 whilst the Orchids found in the two biggest fields almost doubled. I can see that the overall increse from last year may have no significance as weather effects could easily make such changes but the disparity between fields year to year I find more puzzling. Of course the big news is that amongst the total we appear to have two Greater Butterfly Orchids which would be a 100% increase on last year - a chance for some breeding!