Hybrids in flower – Lady orchids picked/eaten
Been very busy recently but last weekend I checked and the hybrids were coming into flower nicely but the 2 Lady orchids that were expected were missing. On closer inspection they had been nipped off along with a few hybrids so it looks like deer grazing but could have been caused by human.
Monkey orchids will not be good this year, I think due to the severe drought and cold this Spring. We have found quite a few but in many places the plants don’t seem to have even sent up leaves. A few were in bud so we will have flowers but not many. I would expect them to appear next weekend at the very earliest.
I visited the site yesterday. It is 20 years since I last visited – ie before the hybrid was ‘invented’. I was told by a couple of BBOWT staff who were moving sheep fences that you have a long run data set on the number of flowering spikes. You mention the impact of a cold dry spring; have you done climate correlations, and if so what do they show? Secondly have you looked at the pollination efficiency, that is how many flowers are pollinated. Yesterday I could see no pollination activity – what are the main pollinators at Hartslock? Are the hybrids sterile?