Common spotted-orchid

How to recognise it

Habit

Perennial orchid, 15–60 cm tall, with a sturdy, solid stem. Underground there are hand-shaped, divided tubers.

Leaf

Lance-shaped, the lowest broad and blunt; usually with dark spots stretched crosswise. Higher up the leaves become smaller and narrower.

Flower

From late May to July a dense spike, conical at first, later cylindrical, pale pink, lilac or almost white, with dark purple dots and loops. The lip is deeply divided into three lobes; the middle lobe is pointed and about as long as or longer than the side lobes.

Fruit

Elongated capsules with thousands of dust-like seeds that blow away on the wind.

Roots

Two hand-shaped, divided tubers and a few thin roots, which live together with fungi in the soil.

Confused with

Heath spotted-orchid grows on acid soil and has a broad lip with a small, short middle lobe. Southern marsh-orchid usually has unspotted leaves and a broad, barely lobed, purple lip. Both sometimes hybridise with the common spotted-orchid.

Flowering: May–July · Pruning: August–September

Why grow it?

• One of the most beautiful and variable orchids: every plant has its own colour and markings.
• Bumblebees, bees and flies visit the flowers. The orchid produces no nectar, but attracts pollinators with its eye-catching spike.
• One of the few native orchids that does reasonably well in a garden, in the right spot.
• A sign of healthy, unfertilised soil with rich soil life.
• It flowers in June, together with other flowers of poor grassland and woodland edges.

Common spotted-orchid: where does it grow best?

• In the wild: open broadleaved woodland, woodland edges, verges, chalk grassland, damp dune slacks, old quarries and railway land.
• Sun to partial shade; it tolerates more shade than many other orchids.
• Moist to moderately dry, chalky to neutral soil that has not been fertilised.
• In the garden: a poor, late-mown meadow, the edge of a copse or hedge, or a damp spot in a wildlife garden.

Goes well with

• Yellow rattle: This semi-parasite weakens the grasses, so the sward becomes thinner and orchids get more of a chance.
• Oxeye daisy: Flowers at the same time in June: white beside pink.
• Cowslip: Spring flowers in the same poor grassland.
• Columbine: Blue-violet flowers in May–June at the woodland edge, in the same partial shade.

Common spotted-orchid: when and how to plant it?

1. Only buy common spotted-orchids from a specialist nursery that raises them from seed; never take them from the wild.
2. Plant in September–October or in March, when the ground is not frozen.
3. Plant at the same depth as in the pot and keep the root ball intact: it holds the soil fungi the orchid needs.
4. Plant a few in a small group, 15–20 cm apart.
5. Water after planting and keep the soil slightly moist in the first spring; never feed.
6. Never dig up plants from the wild: wild orchids are protected and plants that are dug up almost always die.

Care

Water

Only in the first spring and during long dry spells in May–June.

Feeding

Never: fertiliser makes the grass stronger and harms the soil fungi.

Mowing

Do not mow until mid-August, after seed set, and remove the cuttings.

Slugs

Protect the young shoots from slugs in April–May.

Patience

In a good spot it self-seeds and forms a small group over the years.

Tip: Sow yellow rattle in your meadow first: this semi-parasite weakens the grasses, so the sward becomes thinner and orchids such as the common spotted-orchid get more of a chance.

Pruning and mowing

Pruning months: August–September.

When: No pruning. Mow the grassland from mid-August, after seed set.

How:

• Leave the spent spikes until the capsules are brown and open.
• Then mow and remove the cuttings, to keep the soil poor.
• Mark the plants with a stick so you do not mow them in spring.
• In a border, only cut the stem once it has completely withered.

Caution: Do not mow over the plants in May–July: you would lose that year’s flowers and seed.

Pruning: when and how · Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Seed

In the wild it spreads by dust-like seed that only germinates with the right soil fungus. Let the capsules ripen; in a good spot new plants appear after a few years.

Laboratory

Nurseries sow orchids in a laboratory on a nutrient medium. This does not work at home, and division is not recommended.

Common spotted-orchid: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy to −25 °C.

• After seed set the plant dies back above ground; it overwinters as a tuber below ground.
• Fully hardy in our climate.
• In April the first spotted leaves appear above ground again.

Diseases and pests

• Slugs: They like to eat young shoots and buds. Check in the evening in April–May and remove them.
• Rank growth: In tall, dense grass or under encroaching shrubs it disappears. Mow every year and keep shrubs cut back.
• Mowing too early: Mowing in June or July costs you flowers and seed. Mow around the plants until mid-August.
• Failed transplanting: Plants dug up lose their soil fungi and almost always die. Only buy nursery-raised plants.
• Rabbits and deer: They sometimes eat the flower spikes. A small wire-mesh cage protects plants in the garden.

Through the year

• March: Plant nursery-raised plants when the ground is not frozen.
• April: The spotted leaves appear. Watch out for slugs.
• May: The flower spike grows; first flowers in late May.
• June: Full flower. Look and photograph, do not pick.
• July: Last flowers; the capsules swell.
• August: The seed disperses. From mid-August, mow and remove the cuttings.
• September: Plant nursery-raised plants.
• October: Dead above ground; the tuber is dormant.

Did you know?

• Dactylorhiza means ‘finger root’, after the hand-shaped tubers: the Greek ‘daktylos’ means finger and ‘rhiza’ root.
• The species name honours Leonhart Fuchs, a 16th-century German botanist, after whom the fuchsia is also named.
• The flowers contain no nectar: the orchid mainly attracts young, inexperienced bees and bumblebees, which soon learn there is nothing to gain.