Spring Orchids and Wildflowers of the Bruce Peninsula

Come to the Bruce Peninsula & Enjoy Our Diversity of Native Wildflowers & Orchids
Orchid Festival Package June 1 & 2
$230 /couple for the weekend
$180 / single for the weekend

In the spring, life begins to return to the Bruce Peninsula. The Bruce is abundant with many different wildflowers including 44 species of orchids. Photographers, artists and writers come to the Bruce Peninsula each spring to take advantage of the many colourful subjects available in the alvars, rocky outcrops and swampy regions that make up the Bruce Peninsula.

Be prepared for a weekend out in nature - don't forget your camera and good footwear, a set of binoculars could be handy too!
What is included in your package:

• 2 nights double in accommodation of choice
  (prices vary between accommodations)
  [ see list of accommodators here ]
• 2 breakfasts
• lunch package
• admission to the 5th annual Orchid Festival and feature presentation
  [ Visit Orchid Festival Website ]
• Please ask for discount for families incl. children
  

 

Pink Ladies Slipper

Welcome to the 5th Annual Orchid Festival
Package Weekend on the Bruce Peninsula

June1 & 2
Starting at
$230 /couple for the weekend
$180 / single for the weekend
[ Visit Orchid Festival Website ]

The festival is located on the northern Bruce Peninsula, based out of the town of Tobermory. The New Park Visitor Centre, just off Highway 6, is the festival headquarters. Here you can register for the 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.

Spring on the peninsula lets you relax in beautiful natural surroundings, just 3.5 hours northwest of Toronto. Hike on the famous Bruce Trail, enjoy spectacular sunsets, watch birds and observe wildflowers. When your day is done, the warm and friendly atmosphere of your accommodation welcomes you!

MORE INFORMATION ON GARDENS RARE PLANTS OF THE BRUCE PENINSULA

ORCHIDS OF THE BRUCE PENINSULA

In the beginning of June enjoy the Orchid Festival organized by the Bruce Peninsula National Park. It gives you the opportunity to experience a guided tour of the bloom of some of the 44 wild orchid species growing on the Bruce Peninsula. Yellow Lady Slippers and the tiny Ram’s Head Lady Slippers are just an example of what there is to see. The number of tickets is limited; make sure to book your accommodation package in good time!

Be prepared for a weekend out in the nature - don’t forget your camera and good shoes, a binocular could be handy too!

For a checklist of orchids and more information on the Annual Orchid Festival click here

 

 

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.

	Yellow Ladies Slipper

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

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

 

 

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