The arresting burnt (tip) orchid is the county flower of Wiltshire. We went hunting for it the other day on Salisbury Plain at a remote site we know where it can be found. We were not disappointed. Although the site does not seem to be carefully managed these days (it's military land) we saw around 20 of them, mostly singles but also in a characteristic clump. Worth the long tramp along rough tracks – and on a deeply rutted, risk to your car's bottom, road even to get to the tracks. The pothole-loving military neglects this road simply to deter people like us.
As usual, we had the land and its extensive landscape all to ourselves. It's always a quiet place with silence only interrupted by many larks and the odd Apache helicopter. It's also a place at this time of year to see butterfly orchids, fragrant orchids, heath spotted orchids, common twayblades, sainfoin, broomrapes, horseshoe vetch, heath milkwort, yellow rattle, wall brown butterflies, six-spot burnet moths, and more – and we did.
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