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Does anyone here grow temperate orchids such as Cypripedium, Platanthera, Calypso etc... ? Here's what I currently grow:


Aplectrum hymale - Adam & Eve Puttyroot

Bletilla striata: Chinese Ground Orchid
"Big Bob"
Alba

Calopogon tuberosus - Grass Pink Orchid:
Pink
Alba - White Form

Coralohiza maculata - Spotted Coral Root

Cypripedium:
aucale - Pink Ladyslipper
fasciolatum - Striped Ladyslipper
parviflorum parviflorum - Small Yellow Ladyslipper
kentuckiense - Kentucky Ladyslipper
reginae - Showy Ladyslipper
calceolis - European Yellow Ladyslipper

Dactylorhiza:
fuchsii - Common Spotted Orchid
praetermissa - Purple Marsh Orchid


Galearis spectabilis - Showy Orchis

Goodyera pubescens - Downy Rattlesnake Orchid

Habenaria radiata - Egret Orchid

Platanthera:
blephariglottis -White Fringed Orchid
cristata - Orange Crested Orchid
hookeri - Green Bog Orchid
ciliaris - Orange Fringed Orchid
psycodes - Small Purple Fringed Orchid

Pogonia ophioglossoides - Rose Pogonia

Spiranthes:
cernua cernua - Nodding Ladies Tress Orchid
cernua odorata - Fragrant Ladies Tress Orchid

Tipularia discolor - Cranefly Orchid
 
How are you growing your pink lady slipper? I tried my hand at one, but failed miserably. From my understanding, the roots can not take much disturbance.

Also, I was thinking of ordering some Pogonia ophioglossoides from Meadowview. How are you growing yours? How large do they grow?
Thanks!
 
I only have pink lady slippers but there doing great!
 
For the C.aucale, I put a pond liner in the ground (undrained patio containers work well too). I put a 3 inch layer of fine pine bark chunks in the bottom. On top of that, I added a mix of peat, long frond sphagnum, pine needles, perlite and more of the bark chunks (in roughly equal parts) then, put a layer of more pine needles on top. Ladyslippers don't like having their roots disturbed however, they can easily be transported, moved, or re-potted during dormancy either before or after active growth. It's also very important to keep them in the shade and that they get frost in winter, let 'em freeze solid.
The rose pogonias are much easier. I just grow them outside in the bog garden alongside my c.p.'s. Pure peat with a 3 or 4 inch layer of live sphagnum on top. They multiply like crazy if they like the conditions they're in.
 
That's about what I do fo C. Aucale but I have mine directly in the ground. I started out with one large plant which grew multiple off shoots now I have about fifteen plants if I remember correctly.
 
Yeah, if you have acidic soil with a lot of pine trees around they do great in the ground and will spread rapidly. I love stumbling across huge groves of them in the woods. It's amazing.
 
I have a Calopogon tuberosus - Grass Pink Orchid:
in pink in my barrell bog. would love some lady's slippers one day
 
Yeah the huge groves are amazing I know of one grove where there are about ten white ones!
 
  • #10
I've only seen 1 white one about 15 years ago. I've been back to the site dozens of times and never saw another one. There's another site down the street from me, (only about 3 miles from downtown Boston) with thousands of typical pink ones. Last year I found a single cluster with over 20 flowers. I'll take some pics this spring when they're in bloom.
 
  • #11
I was actually going to post pics but my old SD card seems to have disappeared :-( if I find it I'll post pics.
 
  • #13
I'll try and get some pics this spring/summer as well. I know of 2 large patches that come up every year. I live in an area that was obliterated by coal mining, so the soil is all nutrient poor and acidic. I keep searching for CP's but have yet to find any at all. I'd like to find some sundews at least. I found these slipper orchids years ago, before I even knew what they were.
 
  • #14
If your looking for c.p.'s in your area, check the swampy edges of ponds and beaver dams. You should find some D.rotundifolia or intermedia at least.
 
  • #15
Yeah, I'm going to go exploring hardcore this summer. Thought for sure I found an area I'd find some dews last summer, but no deal. I'm in Schuylkill county PA, which is where your best Anthracite coal comes from, and I'm starting to think it was just to hard on the area.
 
  • #16
It probably ways pretty hard on the area. Look for beaver ponds though. They tend to inadvertently create bog habitats on their margins. Where there's sun and sphagnum, there's probably c.p.'s. Utricularia love beaver ponds as well.
 
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