Big Orchid Count records record numbers

This year’s Big Orchid Count certainly produced big results. Volunteers surveyed the wild-flower meadows at Orchid Meadows on Saturday and counted 2771 flowering heads of heath spotted orchid, 40 per cent more than last year and the highest number recorded over the past four years.

The orchids, which range in colour from almost white to pink to deep purple, have been identified as Dactylorhiza maculata subspecies ericetorum. They cope well with the heavy, damp, acid soils common in West Wales but populations take a long time to establish and can be reduced or lost altogether by modern farming methods. The meadows at this 25-acre small-holding have, over the past few years, been under nature-friendly management.

As well as heath spotted orchid, lesser butterfly orchid and broad-leaved helleborine were also recorded on-site. Lesser butterfly orchids were also up on last year (15 compared with just eight in 2025) and helleborines almost tripled from 47 last year to 136 this year.

The meadows are managed traditionally with no chemicals and are cut for hay in late August after most wild plants have flowered and set seed. The bales are used at a nearby horse training centre for feed and bedding. The count results suggest the orchids are responding well to how the fields are managed.

All of which is very heartening! After all, orchids are the most striking and captivating of all wild-flowers. Last year the very dry spring seemed to take its toll on our orchids but it is thrilling to see that they have not only bounced back this year but actually set new records.

If you would like to see the orchids, come soon – they will shortly be past their best!