The Orchid Outlaw: On a Mission to Save Britain's Rarest Flowers

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As is so often the case, hubris is accompanied by grandiosity: ‘Having saved them from destruction, I decided to bring a few of Britain’s most captivating flowers back to the people. For this reason, raising awareness of Britain’s orchids is more than about saving some beauty in the wild; it is about protecting and preserving the rich tapestry of our natural heritage for future generations. Reading and learning everything he could, Ben realised that Britain’s orchids are in desperate trouble.

The Orchid Outlaw | Fox Lane Books The Orchid Outlaw | Fox Lane Books

Then he turned his kitchen into a laboratory, his fridge into storage for hundreds of baby plants and his back yard into an orchid refuge. The ‘guerrilla orchid rewilder’ dodges security guards in hi-vis jackets and worries about the police arresting him (they never do).Written about and drawn for centuries, with wild imaginings of what they do and can do if used for medicinal purposes.

The Orchid Outlaw by Ben Jacob | Hachette UK The Orchid Outlaw by Ben Jacob | Hachette UK

Musk orchids are one of over 50 orchid species native to Britain; many of them, including the Musk, experiencing a rapid decline in numbers.The gorgeous lady’s slipper, with its sun-yellow pouch and burgundy braids, clings on in the wild as a single plant.