The Essex Tongue Orchids

Since their discovery only a couple of years ago, I'd been hoping to visit the colony of Tongue Orchids in Essex. Apart from a few plants at Wakehurst Place in Kent, this is the only known colony of this plant in the UK and they may conceivably be of wild origin. I had heard that the orchids were in flower so I made my way to Essex yesterday armed with vague directions, concerned that I may not find them. I needn't have worried, I managed to stumble upon them within minutes of starting my search and what a display it is. Unfortunately the site is the subject of a planning application for housing so the colony may not be long for this world. It would be a travesty to lose these plants and I am so glad to have seen them.