Most orchids in the UK grow from late-May to the end of July: it’s a narrow window, and as it tends to rain heavily here most summers (when was the last time that the Wimbledon Tennis Championship ran to schedule, for example) if the sun shines anyone wanting to see them needs to get out quick…

…so Peter Mowday and I drove down to Salisbury Plain to look for two early June downland specialities: the Burnt(-tip) Orchid Orchis ustulata (a nationally scarce plant in Great Britain, it’s confined to dry grassland on calcareous substrates in lowland England and is most widespread in the south of the country) and the Frog Orchid Coeloglossum viride.

The location we went to was the English Nature National Nature Reserve of Parsonage Down, a working farm 12 km north west of Salisbury and 1 km north west of the village of Winterbourne Stoke. One huge field of this beautiful site is managed for wild flowers - over 150 species have been recorded - and at least six species of orchids are found here at various times of the year: Green-winged, Burnt, Frog, Bee, Pyramidal, and Fragrant.

The most abundant orchid by far is the beautiful Burnt Orchid Orchis ustulata, which flowers in two distinct forms - an ‘early-flowering form’ from early May to June, and a ‘late-flowering form’ from July to August. The earlier plants are small but vividly coloured with a dark reddish-brown ‘bonnet’ and crimson-spotted ‘lip’. They dot the grassland at Parsonage Down in spectacular numbers: the maximum count here was a remarkable 30000 spikes, and though this is a ‘poor year’ in comparison there must been getting on for 10000.

Burnt Orchid Orchis ustulata

The second species we were looking for here is altogether less visible - the pale green and (frankly) very drab Frog Orchid Coeloglossum viride - so-called apparently because the flower supposedly resembles the back-end of a frog disappearing up into the hood formed by the sepals and petals. Hmmm - those botanists have the most peculiar imaginations…perhaps it’s just that I’m more used to bird names which are far more self-explanatory, eg Marbled Godwit, Garganey, Say’s Phoebe, or Bearded Tit - any non-birder would be able to describe a bird based on those names eh?)…We managed to find three or four spikes (with the help of a local group being led by an English Nature staffer), but it was staggering how easily they were to lose again if you walked away and came back to find them again…

Frog Orchid Coeloglossum viride

Access to Parsonage Down is not all that straightforward. We parked in a spot opposite a ‘drove road’ on the westerly-heading side of the A303 (almost opposite the round terraces of Yambury Castle), walked across the road - it’s very busy - and down the rough track until we reached the Down on our right: there is an obvious access gate and information sign.

The official website gives these directions:

• The access gate is on the old Drove road, at SU033415, and can be reached by walking from Shrewton. If travelling by car, parking can be found at Yarnbury Castle (SU041401), off the A303, and the access gate is a pleasant walk of about half a mile from here. Please note that there is no access to the reserve from the farm office at Cherry Lodge.

Parsonage Down and Hoary Plantain Plantago media