Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum

Specific Families and Genera => Pleione and Orchidaceae => Topic started by: Steve Garvie on July 12, 2015, 07:04:35 AM

Title: Garden Dacts.
Post by: Steve Garvie on July 12, 2015, 07:04:35 AM

Both Dactylorhiza maculata and Dactylorhiza purpurella grow locally with occasional seedlings appearing in troughs and gravel paths in my garden. I have additionally introduced a few bought plants of foliosa and fuchsii. The interbreeding of all of these Dacts has created a number of variants, some of which are quite attractive up close or en masse.

(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/335/19397967519_9c2df0893d_o_d.jpg)

(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/429/18963632073_3366c36cc2_o_d.jpg)

(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/316/19577675882_20d0bb4d56_o_d.jpg)

(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/323/19419755069_dc64b575ef_o_d.jpg)

(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/486/19397987749_013acb58b0_o_d.jpg)

Title: Re: Garden Dacts.
Post by: Graeme on July 12, 2015, 11:10:21 AM

stunning

Title: Re: Garden Dacts.
Post by: annew on July 13, 2015, 09:42:46 PM

Gorgeous - I like the plain white one especially!

Title: Re: Garden Dacts.
Post by: Maren on July 14, 2015, 03:14:34 PM

Fabulous massed display, so uniform and clean. What's your soil like?

Title: Re: Garden Dacts.
Post by: Steve Garvie on July 14, 2015, 11:55:42 PM

Many thanks Graeme/Anne/Maren!

Maren the general garden soil is an acidic leafmould-enriched loam with added granite grit. Some of the Dactylorhiza have self-sown into pots/troughs which contain gritty alkaline mixes. Whilst the Dacts grow well in my garden soil it seems not to be conducive to their germination/seedling development.

Title: Re: Garden Dacts.
Post by: Maggi Young on July 29, 2015, 01:25:27 PM

Quite a few garden Dacts in this week's Bulb Log :
http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2015Jul291438167191BULB_LOG_3015.pdf (http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2015Jul291438167191BULB_LOG_3015.pdf)

[attachimg=1]

[attachimg=2]

Title: Re: Garden Dacts.
Post by: SteveC2 on July 29, 2015, 04:45:41 PM

Very impressive Maggi!  How recent are the photographs?  Mine all finished weeks ago.

Title: Re: Garden Dacts.
Post by: Maggi Young on July 29, 2015, 04:52:09 PM

Photos are current, Steve C.  The earliest little D. purpurella are past and some of the bigger hybrid dacts in some areas got a bit blown about and battered in the stormy weather we've had but most are still in very good order.  Their long season of flower is one of the reasons we love them so much.

Title: Re: Garden Dacts.
Post by: Tristan_He on July 29, 2015, 06:44:27 PM

Fabulous. A very underrated group of orchids in my opinion. Shame people aren't doing more work to get good colour variants e.g. white and really dark pink / purple. A 'growable' yellow (i.e. not sambucina) would also be nice.

I find they tend to self-seed either in among fibrous / mossy pond marginals (i.e. permanently wet, but not in soil) or else in neglected pots, not necessarily alkaline though.

Title: Re: Garden Dacts.
Post by: Claire Cockcroft on July 30, 2015, 03:49:31 AM

Perfect eye candy, Maggi!  This year's dact. bloom in my garden was disappointingly short, due to unusually dry, unusually hot weather in the US Pacific Northwest.  Water restrictions are being discussed in Washington, something I've not seen since I moved here in 1987.  The winter is forecast to be warmer and drier than usual.  Poor plants!