WSBEorchids

Bee orchids flower in school grounds

We have been watching a colony of bee orchids on a patch of ground behind the school since January when we first spotted the rosettes of several plants. We arranged for our grounds contractors not to mow the area and today the first flower opened. This area was just covered with subsoil back when the school was built in 2008 and the resulting low nutrient habitat is fantastic for lots of wild flowers as well as the bee orchids. There is another orchid species in the area which we guess is a pyramidal orchid – we will let you know in June.

Top

Good News – Our website is fully functional again

Can I give a massive thank you to ex-student Dan Groves who set up WSBE orchids when a student at Writhlington (a long time ago) and has now updated all the things I don’t understand to ensure that the site is fully functional and future ready. Expect lots of news from the greenhouse over the next few weeks as well as some new contributors to our posts.

Simon

Top

Dale wins Orchid Project Student of the Year 2023

Each year one of our wonderful volunteer students is awarded Orchid Project Student of the year and this year’s winner is Dale Leakey for his lead in ensuring that the greenhouse is always a clean and healthy environment. Fallen leaves and detritus that can harbour disease and fungus in a greenhouse and should always be swept up and removed from the growing area.

Project leader Agnes Jones describes Dale as, “A real role model for other students. He uses his initiative, is always polite and is a really dependable member of the team.”

Top