Ancient grassland, wild orchids and a charming young man.

 During the autumn last year, a young man in the village opened his garden to the public.    A grower of native wild orchids and many other plants, I was so looking forward to meeting him.   I was his only visitor :(     On arrival we had tea and biscuits.   We sat in his warm cosy kitchen, whilst his wife cooked and his two young boys played happily.  He asked about my garden etc, and knew where I lived.   He suggested I let part of the grass grow to see if there were any secrets trapped beneath the soil.

 I was thrilled last week to see that Fairy Flax had appeared.   It is a marker of ancient, flower rich, unimproved grassland.  So exciting,  this is a project that I know I am going to enjoy.
Anyway, needless to say, I bought several wild orchids from the young man.
He explained that orchids are unpredictable, and sometimes take several years to flower.
I have learned patience.......so you can imagine how delighted and surprised I was to see the Marsh Helleborine in bloom.

 I planted her in the bog garden last autumn.     One of our most beautiful native plants, she stands out from the rest.  Much less common these days, in fact, in some areas very rare.

A lover of damp meadow,  and wet marshy habitat, I am hoping it will do well here.

I also bought Southern Marsh Orchid, Broad-leaved Helleborine and Ladies Tresses.

Broad-leaved Helleborine has made an appearance but is not in bloom yet.   I am hoping she will in the next few weeks.

Sadly, many of our native wildflowers are disappearing.   Imagine my joy, when the young man told me, when an area is being cleared and wild orchids are cast aside, he drives to the location and rescues as many plants as he can.   I was inspired by his passion for his subject, his love of our native flora, that I left him feeling  totally elated.   Very often, young people get bad press but we never hear about the good ones.   The ones that go the extra mile.
I shall keep in touch with this young man....he has a dream, as I did when I was his age.
I have been blessed to have reached many of my goals, but still have some to conquer.

Unless we dream, then how can they come true??