Military Orchids are supposed to have acquired their name from the flower resembling a Napoleonic uniform. The ‘hat’ and the ‘tunic buttons’ are evident but it takes more than a little imagination. I prefer to think the name derived from the way they stand straight and proud like soldiers.
At the bank holiday we wandered amid a small area in North Suffolk containing 90% of the UK’s Military Orchid flower spikes. Found here in 1955 numbers have varied over the years and we are now left with this small area no bigger than a tennis court.
Letter From Norfolk 