I've been trying to decide if the Spring, Summer or Fall Orchids are my favorite. My conclusion is that whatever is in bloom is my favorite. August seems to be the month that a sense of urgency begins to be felt by all life. Even though the first frost in late September is still about five or six weeks away, I already feel and see the signs of impending cold weather. Deer are increasingly active, hummingbirds are frantic, birds can be seen in loose flocks and wildflowers bloom and die back quickly.
Yellow Fringed Orchids are particularly showy. It seems that they know they are in competition for the affection of pollinators and don't have time to play around. They flaunt their availability as if they cannot wait until tomorrow.
A neighbor pointed out the Purple Fringeless Orchid to me several years ago. I am able to photograph them each year if I can find them in time. This year we were hunting them by August 1 but had no luck. He has an acre or two of typical wet field full of Iron Weed, Steeplebush, St. Johns Wort and etc. and the Orchid is typically shorter than everything else there. Last year a beautiful, perfect one bloomed across the road in a cow field and was promptly eaten. So he had been making regular trips through the field looking for the orchids and having no luck and I had been once. Today, I wore long rubber boots and scoured the field with no luck and then tried a nearby field where Ladies Tresses had been seen but no Purple Fringeless. But I spotted two plants that were far past prime, but had a couple of nice blooms. This plant is not know in Raleigh County, West Virginia and his efforts to report it have not been successful.
I had spotted the winter leaves of Crane-fly Orchid early in the Spring at Grandview a part of the New River National River. I started making trips to look for the bloom on July 25th. There was nothing where the leaves were but I did spot four newly emerged flower spikes nearby and made three trips before finding one in bloom on August the 5th. This was a first time sighting for me.
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| Crane-fly Orchid- Notice the sticky pollinaria that will attach to a moth to be transferred to another plant |
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| The Crane-Fly Orchid two weeks before |
Downy Rattlesnake Orchid is one of five or so Orchids that grow on the farm where I live. The picture below is an amateurishly stitched together series of three pictures. It is a difficult plant to show in its entirety. You can see several seed pods from last year around the bottom. Every time I see these plants, I stop and look for its cousin the Lesser Rattlesnake Orchid.
I love these flowers and bouquets !!
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