Bruce Peninsula Orchid Festival

 BRUCE PENINSULA ORCHID FESTIVAL - TOBERMORY

The Bruce Peninsula Orchid festival is located on the northern Bruce Peninsula, based out of the town of Tobermory. The Park Visitor Centre, just off Highway 6, is the festival headquarters. Here you can register for the Orchid festival, pick up a schedule of events and ask questions. Activities, such as the feature presentation, will be held at this location. Field activities, such as the hikes and orchid tours, begin at the headquarters, but will visit locations in and around Bruce Peninsula National Park. Transportation between the headquarters and field sites is by private car-pooling.

Click here to visit the official Orchid festival Page

Wild Orchids of the Bruce Peninsula Ontario

Located only a little over 3 hours drive from the metropolis of Toronto is a world where wild orchids are thriving. The Bruce Peninsula is located between Georgian Bay and Lake Huron, creating an environment where these beautiful flowers flourish. 44 species of orchids live in the Bruce Peninsula giving the Bruce Peninsula the distinction of having one of the greatest varieties of natural orchids in North America - especially for such a small area.

Globally - there are more than 30 000 orchid species. Canada is home to 77 species of these orchids. Ontario has 61 varieties of orchids - and of these - 44 can be found in the Bruce Peninsula

The orchids of the Bruce Peninsula bloom throughout spring and summer. Their exact bloom dates depends on the weather. The Bruce Peninsula's unique location provides these delicate flowers with the perfect enviroment for their survival. Wild orchids depend on a specific habitat to sustain them and the Bruce Peninsula has an unusually rich diversity of habitats, from the rugged cliffs of the Niagara Escarpment, to flat, dry rock plains called alvars, to various types of swampy wetlands.

Some orchids flourish more than others in the Bruce Peninsula. The Yellow Ladies Slipper can be seen growing on the sides of the roads in the Bruce like dandelions! On the other hand - the Calypso orchid is found only on Flower Pot Island within Fathom Five National Marine Park. Some orchids grow very slow. The Showy Ladies Slipper orchid take years to come to bloom.

Removing these precious flowers from the Bruce peninsula is usually a death sentence to them. Orchids generally grow utilizing the medium that surrounds them. They require this medium to grow and survive. They can not live in a garden in Toronto for this reason.

A selection of the most interesting orchids on the Bruce Peninsula:

Yellow Lady's Slipper - Cypripedium parviflorum
-   Common, native orchid, classified 'secure'
-   Blooms May to June
-   Prefers drier soil than other Lady's slippers
-   Easy to find along roadsides as Johnston Harbour Road
-   Remarkable: produces the smallest seeds by any group of flowers!
-   Link: www.osrbg.ca

Nodding Ladies' Tresses - Spiranthes cernua
-   Common, native orchid, classified 'secure'
-   Blooms late August and September, or until a heavy frost
-   Prefers moist and sandy soil
-   Link: www.osrbg.ca

Eastern Prairie Fringed Orchid - Platanthera leucophaea
-   Very uncommon orchid, grows only in Ontario,
classified as 'special concern' since 1986
-   Blooms late June to early August
-   Prefers wettest parts of fens
-   To find at the fens at Singing Sands
-   Link: www.osrbg.ca

Ram's Head Lady Slipper - Cypripedium arietinum
-   Quite common, native orchid, classified 'sensitive'
-   Blooms the last 10 days of May to mid. June
-   Prefers woodland environment
-   To find at Singing Sands
-   Link: www.osrbg.ca

European Common Twayblade - Listera ovata
-   Very unusual, not native orchid, grows only in Ontario,
classified as 'exotic'
-   Blooms June and July
-   Prefers wet soil, over dolomite area, cedar woodlands
-   Link: www.osrbg.ca/files/

Helleborine - Epipactis helleborine
-   Relative usual, not native orchid, classified as 'exotic'
-   Blooms late July to August; rarely, into October
-   Prefers swamps and stream edges, gravelly roadsides, sheltered sandy beaches, open woodlands
-   To find at Singing Sands
-   Link: www.osrbg.ca