Summer
The Rold Skov forest jewel, Lady's slipper, blooms from early June. It used to be a universally accepted practice to visit the Lady's slipper on the Danish Constitution Day (5 June), but even Europe’s greatest orchid has had to acknowledge climate change. In a mild spring, blooming culminates on 1 July, or perhaps even the week before. It may be just 14 days until its magnificence fades. The Lady's slipper grows inside its fencing in Bjergeskoven forest, with a path from the car park on the Buderupholmvej road.
July is the season for delicious wild raspberries. The roe deer rutting season is imminent and you will hear the roebuck howling, either at each other or at forest visitors. Around Rold Skov forest, a tall plant shoots up with a spike of pink foxgloves. This wild medicinal plant, Digitalis, is used for heart medicine. Inside the fencing around the Lady's slipper, another rarity emerges; the Red Helleborine orchid.
It is time to pick blueberries. In forest clearings, along forest tracks and not least in Rebild Bakker, you will find the blue sweet berries. The first berries to arrive are blueberries, and at the end of August it is the season for bright-red mountain cranberries in Rebild Bakker. Notice how the two stunted bushes grow differently, the blueberries prefer north-facing hills, whilst mountain cranberries love sun in the south slopes.