Southern Marsh orchid

It's that time of the year when the Southern Marsh orchid (Dactylorhiza praetermissa) dominates the flora of the wetter meadow at Ossemsley Ford.

Bluebell

 

So indicative of spring woodland the humble Bluebell (Hyacinthoides non-scripta), a dainty drooping beauty which smells as sweet as it looks. There's an open stand of mainly oak alongside the course of the old Brockenhurst to Ringwood line near Osmonds Bushes, it's peppered with Bluebells, the scent as we passed this morning was heavenly. Their presence here indicates that the stand represents a pocket of ancient woodland.

Southern Marsh orchid

 

A Southern Marsh orchid (Dactylorhiza praetermissa) near Ossemsley ford.

Water Mint

 

Walking the same forest roams throughout the year you get to see how a place changes, see that it's always someone’s time to shine; currently it's Water Mint (Mentha aquatica) time. Swathes of this fragrant member of the mint family carpet the damp grassy environs of the forest streams. Smells lovely.

Happy days

This years foals are growing fast, and loving every moment of it. 

Happy days.

Flag Iris

Iris pseudacorus

Southern Marsh Orchid

Those Southern Marsh orchids (Dactylorhiza praetermissa) near Ossemsley ford,which a week ago were just coming out are now in full bloom, and lovely they are too.

Orchids

In a wet corner of a lowland meadow near Ossemsley ford on Avon Water, Southern Marsh orchids (Dactylorhiza praetermissa) are just beginning to burst forth and open. If you fancy a challenge, there are 15 species of wild orchid in the New Forest to spot between now and Autumn. On your marks!

Early blossom

I spied my first Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) blossom of the year on the bank of Avon Water near Ossemsley Ford; ’twas the only I saw too, and there were plenty of Blackthorn around; just a handful of flowers brightening a solitary branch. Flowering way before the pollinators take flight, Blackthorn being hermaphrodites, can please themselves.