Country diary: An oasis of orchids on an industrial estate | Derek Niemann

Sandy, Bedfordshire: And not just any old orchids - these are the famously fickle bee variety, growing in great numbers by the asphaltThe month of June brings out the flashmob of the meadows, one filled with colour, character and comic potential. Orchid enthusiasts know dependable spots where they can find other members of the family in this county - woodland rides for common spotted, the disused railway cutting for pyramidal, southern downland for twayblades. But the true wildcard is the bee orchid.One year's display will be next year's absence. Though they are perennial, in three decades here I've never known a flush of bee orchids to appear in the same place two years running. Chance and a favourable wind bears their seed to ground, where they bed down with a cooperative fungus, and there they thrive - and then vanish. Continue reading...