Orchid Trail Bühlchen

At Premiumweg 8 there are several nature reserves where, depending on the season, orchids and other beautiful plants grow.
Bühlchen is a shell limestone hilltop with nutrient-poor grassland where you can discover orchids, gentian, anemones and other wild flowers and herbs as well as juniper.
There are fenced areas where mainly orchids are supposed to grow.
Today I didn't discover any orchids ( too late ), but a lot of other wild flowers and herbs. I was fascinated by the gold thistle.
I think this patch of earth is beautiful at any time of the year. I will definitely come here again 😀🙋‍♀️

At the Bühlchen Nature Reserve, the Orchid Trail, located on the species-rich grasslands of the Muschelkalk hilltop, delights visitors with a stunning sea of colors in May. Various orchid species bloom, white mountain anemones glow, and among them, you can discover small cat's paws and blue milkworts, fragrant wild herbs, and rare butterflies.

On the Bühlchen you will find very beautiful areas with juniper bushes.
The name comes from the Old High German "wecholter" which means fresher and evergreen. You can find it on nutrient-poor soils such as lime or sand and need a lot of light.
The deep-rooted plant grows in a cylindrical, columnar manner as a shrub or tree and can live up to 800 years. It has sharp, pointed needles to protect it from being eaten.
For reproduction, it forms berries, which are also used to refine food and drinks.

A task to highlight:
The berry-like cones of the juniper take several years to mature. Therefore, there are always cones on the bushes that are differently ripe. At first they are green, mature cones are black-blue.
Find out how long it takes the berry-like cones to develop from pollination to maturity.
a. 1 year b. 2 years c. 3 years