Generally, sun orchids – the 100+ members of the genus Thelymitra – are true to their common name.
They orient their flowers to the sun, open them only when it shines brightly upon them, and always close them before nightfall.
I am no botanist, but am 90 percent certain that there is just one kind of time and place to enjoy an entirely-natural encounter with the pictured, very elegant blue sun orchid species: on a sunny day in southwestern WA.
I took the photo just after 11 am on 21.09.2025 in Perth’s Shenton Bushland.
It was one of just a handful that were “out and proud”.
There were, however, a great many promising-looking spikes.
We returned four sunny days later, expecting to enjoy a “riot” of blue elegance.
Alas, we saw not one additional blue sun orchid.
Instead, we faced an enormous number of pink-blooming Southern African invaders!
Members of the genus Watsonia – an African branch of the lily family – have proliferated in Australia, most especially in WA’s southwest.
They are a pest; in addition to displacing native vegetation, they pose an increasingly serious fire hazard…and they are enormously difficult to eradicate.
To add insult to their injury, just prior to the opening of their flowers, Watsonia’s spikes – to a non-botanist, at least – look very much like blue sun orchids, when just a day or three shy of revealing their splendour.
Not all sun orchids are blue, and not all of them call Australia home; discover more here.