Orchid Summer

‘Remarkable ... Evoking the intensity with which orchid hunters pursue their quarry ... Vivid and expressive’ Sunday Times‘Wonderfully vivid … this is a beautifully written celebration of these mysterious and endangered plants’ Guardian‘Rich with orchids and their subjects ... A wonderful book’ Robert MacfarlaneOrchid Summer is a heady celebration of the beauty and history of the wild orchid species of the British Isles, embraced in one dazzling summer-long hunt by naturalist Jon Dunn. The flowers that are the focus of this treasure hunt are exquisite and diverse. Some tower above the surrounding vegetation; others are vanishingly small and discrete. Some are sweetly scented; others smell of ripe billy goats. Some are abundant; others more elusive – none more so than the last to flower, the ghost orchid…Capturing the intoxicating beauty of these rare flowers, Orchid Summer explores their history, their champions, their place in our landscape and the threats they face. Combining infectious enthusiasm and a painterly eye with a deep knowledge that comes from a lifetime’s passionate devotion to their study, Dunn sweeps us up on his adventure.

Dunn’s descriptions of his “orchidaceous treasures” are wonderfully vivid and his account of his travels is full of amusing anecdotes … This is a beautifully written celebration of these mysterious and endangered plants that will delight orchidophiles and nature lovers alike, Remarkable … Evoking the intensity with which orchid hunters pursue their quarry … [Dunn] is skilled in describing the beauty of the flowers themselves. Orchid Summer contains no photographs and few illustrations but scarcely needs them, so vivid and expressive is Dunn’s prose, A painterly book detailing a naturalist’s summer-long search for the wildest flowers of the British Isles; a hymn to the homegrown exotic, Dunn’s writing is assured and reflective. He has a painterly eye for colour terms and seems especially fond of them … The considered descriptions slow the reader’s pace and engage the imagination … To be guided by Jon Dunn in such a pursuit is a pleasure, Dunn is relentless in his quest to unearth the stories around the orchids that so enrapture him – and finds a few tales of floral skulduggery along the way! The history of these flowers, and the threats they face, combine to make this a great read for any plant enthusiast

Jon Dunn is a natural-history writer, photographer and tour leader based in Shetland, who travels worldwide searching for memorable wildlife encounters. A childhood exploring the water meadows and abandoned orchards of the Somerset Levels and the droves and ancient woods of Dorset’s Blackmore Vale spurred a lifelong passion for all things natural history based. His Shetland home features otters on his doorstep, and summer evenings watching porpoises from the kitchen window. Once stalked by a mountain lion in Mexico’s Sierra Madre Occidental, he generally prefers experiencing wildlife on his own terms and not as part of the food chain.jondunn.com / @dunnjons