Orchids bloom in St Ouen

Saturday 17 May 2014

Islanders are being invited to find out more about the Jersey Orchid when the National Trust opens up its field full of them to the public at the end of next week.

One of the Trust’s rangers and local botanist Tina Hull will be at Le Noir Pré next Sunday afternoon explaining how they gets thousands of orchids blooming and manage the wet meadow site, just off the five mile road in St Ouen’s Bay.

Up until the 1960’s the field was a big rubbish tip - piled up with fridges, cars and garden waste but it has since been transformed through careful conservation.

The National Trust Lands Manager Jonny Parkes said: “Over the coming weeks the meadows around St Ouen’s Pond will be transformed into a swathe of pink and purples as the orchids come into bloom once more. During May and June in excess of forty thousand orchids can be found in Le Noir Pré alone.

“It is also an example of the incredible floral diversity that can be found in the increasingly threatened wetlands in Jersey.”

The field will be open to the public next Sunday 18 May from 2 until 4 pm and will stay open until the middle of next month while the Jersey Orchid, Spotted Orchid and Southern Marsh are all in bloom.

Trust staff say don’t forget your camera.