Midsummer’s Eve is traditionally a half day off here in Sweden, but at some workplaces you get the whole day free. My workplace is one of them. Looking at the weather forecast, it was going to be the usual midsummer weather – rain. Only problem was that it was not raining in the afternoon like they said it would, and it was still not raining in the evening. The flowers need rain, and a flower photographer needs overcast skies! Add wind to the equation, and my extra day off was heading nowhere fast. Well, at least I got some scouting done. I found plenty of twinflower (Linnea borealis) locations and hopefully I can share a photo of this special flower soon. I was also chasing lesser butterfly orchids (Platanthera bifolia), I have received three location tips and then there’s of course the specimens I found myself last year. Rather worryingly, I’m not seeing any orchids in that location now. All the more delightful then that I was able to found both of the new locations I was looking for – they are in the forest around here. So in the evening when I noticed that the wind had died down and there was still plenty of light because it wasn’t even overcast let alone raining, I pulled on my bugshirt and headed for the closest butterfly orchids. Their Swedish name is ”nattviol”, which literally translates to ”night violet”. Exactly why they call it a violet is beyond me, but night is right – the flower turns on the scent taps at night to attract pollinators.

So while the rest of the Sweden was celebrating midsummer in a drunken party, I was celebrating the shortest night of the year in the forest, surrounded by mosquitoes and lesser butterfly orchids. That’s all the party I need!