A few months ago I visited with @AntonellaGr the Isle of the Dead, a natural park dedicated to the soldiers who died during the final battle of the First World War:In the shadow of the last sun - Isle of the Dead
During the visit, we were very impressed by the fact that within the area there was a Botanical Garden with numerous species of wild orchids and by the fact that some species of orchids, due to climate change, are no longer present in the area. These are species that have actually moved to higher, and therefore cooler, areas.
We therefore decided to visit the garden during flowering to identify the orchids present there.
What we found is surprising: The place is not the classic “structured” botanical garden. Orchids grow spontaneously in the area, in the park’s lawns, along the avenues, in the middle of the trees, so you have to be extremely careful not to step on them. There are many varieties, all beautiful. Some are very widespread, but we found only one plant of one species. We will come back again to find out if there are varieties that bloom at different times, but I enjoyed sharing with us what we had found, and identified so far.
Some are very easy to distinguish, for others you have to pay close attention to details: a great exercise for studying biodiversity.
Some species, in the central part of the park, are identified by small yellow signs planted next to the plants. The aim is above all to educate visitors, who are more numerous in that part of the park. But the most exciting thing is to discover them hidden in the tall grass, under a tree, like this “Cephalanthera Longifolia”
Some species look very similar, and it takes a lot of observation to see the differences, such as the three beautiful species of “Ophrys” here below
Others, you might think they lack color, such as “Neottia nidus-avis” (bird’s-nest orchid) which is a non-photosynthetic orchid.
When we talk about flowers, we cannot fail to mention pollination, and the myriad of insects that, moving among the flowers and feeding on their nectar, make it possible to transmit life between plants, as well as the possible creation of variants. Ants, flies, bees, hornets, butterflies, ladybugs, make up the variegated world that flies, or climbs around the flowers, in a symbiosis of shared life
In my opinion, photographing insects is even more fascinating than photographing flowers, because it requires even more patience. The combination of the two (insects and flowers) is something that I find beautiful.
I didn’t wanted to overcrowd the listing with my photos, so I selected carefully the ones to upload, and, wow, one is actually the “Cover Photo”
I also wanted to share my view of the place, through a review
[EDIT] Thanks for the Need Help
I leave you with a very special photo. Thanks to @NasimJoy and @davidhyno for sharing with me the name of the flower (see here in the replies)
I could not find out the name of this flower. Who knows him? Can you help me?
and you guys responded very quickly. That’s amazing
