wild lady slippers

[Ant]

Found 9 flowering plants yesterday. Only 3 had fresh flowers though. There were plenty of immature plants around too. Any one know what species and how rare these are? My mom told me they were everywhere when she was young.

one next to the path. (easy to photograph)

adult with a dried up flower.

Immature one I thought might be a lady slipper last year, got bigger and has the same type and number of leaves as adults.

Adult buried in a thick patch of saplings. Had my favorite coloration.

 

[Taargus]

What a cool find. Looks like Cypripedium acaule to me. Where were you when you took the photos? They are fairly common in Northern US, if it is acaule.

 

[swords]

They are Cyripedium acaule - time to get out the shovel! LOL

J/K

In MN it's supposedly a $1000 fine for each flower you pick or plant you get caught digging of Cypripedium reginae (Queen ladyslipper) our state flower. On the 5 PM news a few years ago some guy was showing off his garden and they asked him about his row of MN ladyslippers (C. reginae) and he said live on TV "Every year me and the missus go up to the boundary waters and we like to bring interesting back plants to remember our trip by." They replayed the story at 6 PM and that segment about the MN ladyslippers was cut out, someone must have called the station and told them.

 

[Ant]

C. reginae is protected in this state too. I actually have one outside I bought. Doesn't look like it will flower this year. C. acaule is correct. If they are common up north it makes it more likely because I am in south eastern Massachusetts. Anyway, no need to move this plants even if they weren't protected. They are only a short walk away and wild plants are always cooler then plants in plastic pots.

 

[GrowinOld]

Ah, Minnesota!
The wife and I are taking a run up to Fargo/Moorhead to see her family! No picking of the orchids however, just visiting! They used to live in Baudette Mn., and the orchids were all over the place! My favorite are the yellow ones!

I was led to believe that there is some symbiotic relationship between these orchids and some fungus in the soil, without which the orchid can't thrive well. Makes taking some for the yard a waste of time if that's the case, as it'll only die anyway.(Especially with our soil!) But they are beautiful.

And yes, in years back, they were even more plentiful! But alas, like our CP environments, giving way to progress, collecting and habitat destruction!

I used to also see the northern bogs on our trips up north, with miles of sphagnum (yup, red!), along with stands of pitcher plants! Oh yea, giant mosquitoes too! Big as yer fist!

Nice find!

Paul

(I'm going to have to look for some nurseries up where we are going... although I doubt there is much to choose from.)

 

[swords]

Yes there is Paul, check out Orchids LTD in Plymouth MN they've got huge Neps on display as well as orchids up the yin-yang. Bring your bank balance however! LOL There's a reason nothing has any prices on it...$$$ Great way to spend some time though and the owner is nice guy.

I bought a legal C. reginae rootstock a few years ago (had a license number on it and everything) it was fine for the growing/blooming season but it didn't overwinter in the whiskey barrel. Lillies do great overwinter in the barrel but it must have froze too much for the orchid.

 

[Ant]

growing old, I believe that the orchids only need the fungus when they are seedlings. After they produce their first adult leaves they are just like any normal plant. (Well, care and sensitivity are a bit different.)

 

[Adam]

Yes there is Paul, check out Orchids LTD in Plymouth MN they've got huge Neps on display as well as orchids up the yin-yang. Bring your bank balance however! LOL There's a reason nothing has any prices on it...$$$ Great way to spend some time though and the owner is nice guy.

I bought a legal C. reginae rootstock a few years ago (had a license number on it and everything) it was fine for the growing/blooming season but it didn't overwinter in the whiskey barrel. Lillies do great overwinter in the barrel but it must have froze too much for the orchid.

I met Jason a few weeks ago, back in April, at the OSWP meeting. He was taking preorders before the meeting and selling plants, but he did not bring neps. He had a slide with some Pings on it, looked pretty big, but they were $16

 

[swords]

Both Jason and his dad (Jerry) are very nice guys. I'll have to check out OL soon I need fertilizer and some cork bark slabs.

 

[GrowinOld]

Thanks!

Hi,
Thanks for the heads-up. I did notice them on a net search, if I can get some time in transit to stop in on them. And I did see some prices online.... Wow! I think I can afford a Nep pot or 2... but they will be empty pots of course! But it will be fun to see all their plants and stuff.... Do hope I can swing some time in en-route.

Take care and thanks again all!

And Ant... yea, I wasn't sure. People used to say if enough soil was packed with the plants (bringing along the "fungus" with it), that they would acclimate fine so long as the rest of the environment was right.

 

[swords]

Yeah it's worth stopping in and very hard to resist leaving without at least one plant.
If you ask for a tour they'll show you all around the entire facilities and answer your questions fill you in with the latest orchid world gossip as if you knew everyone they do. Definitely a friendly atmosphere. If I ever loose my job I'm gonna beg to work there.

There are like 3 or 4 greenhouses (plus one retail showroom GH) a full scale TC lab, a palate of fresh cork bark in slabs and tubes... a palate! I've bought fresh cork from them before and the lichens and moss and stuff started growing again when I mounted orchids on it and put it in the HL chamber. You don't really notice until you take successive pics over time of the same mount but I like mosses and lichens as much as orchids and ferns and Neps.

 

[sarracenia]

several years ago, my wife's grandmother dug up some C. acaule that grew in abundance where she worked. probably illegally, i don't know the laws in my own state, but i assumed it was against the law. anyway, she gave them to me, as well as a bunch of other stuff I can't even remember that was all growing in the boggy area (she knew i had a bunch of Sarracenia and figured she'd give me a bunch of native stuff to grow with them). the c. acaule lasted for about 4 years in a larger pot with some Sarracenia, bloomed every year, and actually was doing very well, spreading, etc...then 2 springs ago they didn't appear, and haven't seen 'em since. i have some Calopogon that I'm trying this year, they've sprouted. i just hope they bloom.