This Sunday will see the annual opening of the National Trust for Jersey’s orchid field at Le Noir Pré, near St Ouen’s Pond, where people can walk through a specially prepared pathway to view the rare orchids and wild flowers.
The opening is part of the environmental #LoveNature festival which offers people the chance to explore the trust’s buildings, sites and lands in the St Ouen’s Bay area, including Le Don Hilton (the White House), the Wetland Centre, La Mielle de Morville, St Ouen’s Pond and the orchid fields.
To mark the opening on Sunday there will be a guided walk around the orchid fields with expert botanist Anne Haden. The display promises to be stunning over the coming weeks when the field will be awash with waves of pinks and purples as the many thousands of orchids come into bloom.
National Trust for Jersey rangers manage the wet meadow, which is home to the Jersey orchid, spotted orchid, southern marsh orchid and a wealth of wildflowers, as well as unwanted weeds.
The area is also the habitat for birds such as reed warblers and Cetti’s warblers, which are hard to see, but very noticeable by their loud song. There are also the very successful marsh harriers. In addition, the meadow supports an abundance of insects, reptiles and mammals.
The site needs managing all year round and normally in the autumn and winter the area is grazed by cattle, which are then removed to let the grass grow. After that the area is left to go to seed and eventually the trust’s rangers will move in and cut the hay and bale it.
The hay bales are taken by farmers for feed and occasionally to other trust sites to establish more flowers.
A far as possible the area is managed in a traditional way, recreating old farming practices suitable for such a meadow environment, which means that a lot of the work is done by hand. One plant to be wary of is hogweed, as the sap contains toxic chemicals that react with sunlight and when in contact with skin can cause blistering, normally within 48 hours.
The rest of the weeds and flowers in the meadow are pretty much left alone and comprise around 80 different species, including meadow buttercups, cuckoo flower, dandelions and a number of hybrid orchids.
Although the orchids are rare, numbers have gradually increased from around 1,500 in 1995 to roughly 60,000 at the last count. But Le Pré is special because it is one of dwindling number of wet meadows in the Island.
Anyone thinking of taking a few plants home should be aware that there will be little chance of them surviving, as these are not the sort of bulbs that will grow in a back garden.
But in Le Pré they will continue to flourish and can be seen in all their beauty for the next few weeks until the flowers fade away.
Le Noir Pré is on Le Chemin de L’Ouzière, the road which runs inland from the Five Mile Road in St Ouen’s Bay, and the orchid field will remain open until around late June while the orchids are in bloom. Visitors are very welcome.
- For more information on the orchids or the #LoveNature festival visit nationaltrust.je/events.
