Native orchids in northern Italy

...cur! ;-)

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Some time ago I took a break from the job, from telephone, from Internet, even from TV and radio, 

but (of course) not from photography. 

Taking photos is a kind of  meditation and relaxation for me, especially if I paddle my own canoe!

We found a nice and quiet haven amidst a great olive grove, a small B&B hotel high above Garda Lake. 

What enchanted me most on the hotel grounds (aside from the fantastic view on the lake) was the fact that we found native orchids right on the grassland above the building we lived.

So please follow me on my orchid tour through the olive grove; 

the five different native species I found end of April flowered in the sunshine next to the olive trees,

but not directly in the shadow of the trees. 

This white beauty is Cephalanthera longifolia, known as 

Sword-leaved Helleborine or Narrow-leaved Helleborine in English.

Der deutsche Name ist Langblättriges oder Schwertblättrige Waldvöglein.

The most frequent orchid species on our grassland was of the genus orchis - 

known as Knabenkräuter in German.

More precisely: Orchis simia, the Monkey orchid (Affen-Knabenkraut)

Crimson red or nearly white - it's the same species:

orchis morio - Green-winged orchid - Kleines Knabenkraut

Now we chance the genus: Ophrys - Ragwurzen. Most of them small but colourful floral gems.

The characteristic "H" gives the right hint: it's a Ophrys sphegodes,

the Early spider orchid, in German "Große Spinnen-Ragwurz".

Last but not least the ophrys gem you only find in northern Italy, mainly around Lake Garda:

Ophrys benacensis - the Lake Garda orchid/ophrys - die Gardasee-Orchidee!

I hope you enjoyed my little tour through the hotel garden on top of beautiful Lago di Garda.

Cordiali saluti, Uwe.

Whitsunday's floral gems

Yesterday evening I charged the battery of my old Olympus SLR,

because I have a fantastic close-up lens for this camera system with an aperture of 2.0

The idea behind the recharging of the battery was to use the (promised) great sunshine on Whitsunday morning to take some close-ups of flowers on my way to my Sunday breakfast location. Because for the afternoon the weather prophets promised us end-of-the-world weather (we have currently).

Anemone sylvestris (snowdrop anemone) was my first object of desire I found on a piece of dry grassland next to a parking area near a highway.

Next to the anemones I found my first military orchids [Orchis militaris],

a species of orchid native to Europe.

To get the best shooing position I had to go flat, in close contact to some thorns and a lot of creepy-crawlies like ants, bugs and ticks... ;-)

I really like the involvement between nature, light and camera technology,

the game with aperture and focus depth.

Scharfer Hahnenfuss [Ranunculus acris], known as meadow buttercup, tall buttercup or giant buttercup.

Finally: a close-up of a part of my breakfast:

sausage salad with peppercorns.

;-))

Weekend jungle

Calliandra haematocephala - powder puff tree blossom

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Like every year at this season I'm totally fed up with German wintertime and its various collection of grey shades in nature.

It's still a bit too early for the early flowering plants and trees - except some lonely snowdrops every now and then.

I've been looking for something more colourful to light up my heart and soul.

So my way took me to the greenhouse of the botanic garden of Würzburg university.

No idea at all what kind of plant with the fragile blossom / inflorescence I captured here.

I just remember I took the photo in the greenhouse area for the temperate rainforest plants.

Bletilla striata orchid - distributed through China, Japan, Taiwan and Vietnam - in my humble opinion much more beautiful than the Phalaenopsis orchid schlock you can buy at a DIY market or garden center.

Just fed up with winter...

...I want sun's warmth, flowers, spring fever!!! ;-)

Not for the first time when we felt a kind of winter depression we went to the greenhouses of the botanical garden of Wuerzburg University. 

There you find a inkling of spring with all its pleasant sides.

And some beautiful orchids and other tropical plants.

On top you see what I guess is a Cattleya hybrid. A species with hundreds of different variants and a countless variety of blossom colours.

Much more common on your window sill and better known is this Phalaenopsis hybrid - here a purple species.

No idea what type of plant I capured here - but I like it.

Lady's slipper (wild species outside the common shoe store)

Cypripedium calceolus - - - Gelber Frauenschuh

Last Sunday, in the same nature reserve where we found the fly & spider orchids as well as the military orchids, we detected five flourished blossoms of the very rare and endangered Lady's slipper orchid.

By the way: The Lady's slipper is orchid of the year 2010


Orchidee des Jahres 2010

That doesn't interest the snail in the orchid's neighborhood in the slightest.

Weekend orchid hunter

Put in the crosshairs: native, local orchids.

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fly orchid - - - Ophrys insectifera - - - Fliegenragwurz

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early spider orchid - - - Ophrys spegodes - - - Große Spinnenragwurz

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Lego brick - - - Lapidis legoum - - - Legostein

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military orchid - - - Orchis militaris - - - Helm-Knabenkraut

European orchids - now they bloom again...

This springtime there seem to be excellent conditions for the process of growth for endemic orchids. This four species I found yesterday evening at a nature reserve not too far away from my hometown:

1. Orchis purpurea - Purpurknabenkraut - lady orchid
2. Orchis militaris - Helmknabenkraut - military orchid
3. Neottia nidus-avis - Vogel-Nestwurz - bird's nest orchid
4. Cypripedium calceolus - Gelber Frauenschuh - lady's slipper

Within the next two weeks I hope to find some more local orchids in this area, especially Ophrys species (Ragwurze) start blooming right now.

For further information about European orchids, have a look to this great homepage...

http://www.guenther-blaich.de/