This is my all-time favorite plant and my favorite species. This flower is blooming on a wild plant that was one of three growing at the edge of the woods when we moved in. The next year there were two, and the next year, only one, and it did not bloom. For the next two years the plants disappeared. I did not know what was wrong but learned enough to realize that Cypripediums are transitional species that grow for a few years when a woods is cleared by fire, road construction and so forth, but when shade becomes too great they decline. What really caught my attention followed the loss of an enormous sugar maple during the winter next to where the Cypripediums once grew. That spring all three were back - I further learned that the roots may last up to 5 - 6 years waiting for proper conditions again. So, I cleared the area of underbrush and began growing Cypripediums - several hundred now. Cyp. parviflorum is a major species group in North America. It contains several subspecies, of which Cyp parviflorum pubescens has the largest flowers and Cyp parviflorum parviflorum has the smallest. There are several other named varieties. Years ago, the Cyp parviflorum complex was lumped together with a European/Asian species called Cyp calceolus but now it is recognized that these are two separate species. The photo of the magnificient wild plant that Eric posted in this gallery is Cypripedium parviflorum parviflorum - it is a single plant. That it is parviflorum is apparent since the flowers are small and the sepals are a very dark mahogany. In contrast, this flower is very large - from tip to tip it is 5 1/2 inches (!) and note the very light yellowish-green sepals. Large-flowered Cyp pubescens like this one have the "orchid look" of insect mimics. While the other Cyp are rather rigid, even a slight breeze sets these big flowers waving, with each petal and sepal moving separately, making them look like very large insects fluttering.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/fundulopanchax/Cypripedium/Cpubescens15May2003.jpg

Ron Burch
fundulopanchax
Wilton CT

Okay...new house next year with some woods behind...I MUST start growing some of these things!!! All of the pics you posted are awesome...thanks! I'll be asking tons of cultural questions then... :poke:

Gorgeous Cyp!

Hi Ron, yes mine are Cypripedium parviflorum parviflorum I keep getting them mixed up. I thought I read some where that they changed there name. Your pictures are really nice .

Eric

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y7/jonbar1/DSC02530.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y7/jonbar1/DSC02529.jpg

I guess I will share the pics of the two plants I have growing of pubescens, as they are just now starting to sprout. The one in the first pic grows in very bright light for a wooded area, and the second in deep shade. The second one only had two flowers last year, but the plant was much larger and darker green. The other one is very floriforous, but the leaves get burned during the summer making it look rattier. I can't wait til they start blooming with my reginaes this spring, and I will be sure to post updated photos.
I am considering buying a C. fargesii and a C. guttatum from a local grower as they are my true favorites...if you have any info on them it would be greatly appreciated!
Jon

Magnificient plant, Jon! So you by chance artificially pollenate? If so and you are willing to self the plant, I would be grateful for seeds this fall - I would of course send you as many seedlings as you like. I collect nice pubescens from around North America, usually by way of seed. Cyp fargesii is a very difficult species for most people - I dont have any but do have two closely related species. They must have virtually no organics in their soil. After blooming they need fairly dry conditions and in the winter VERY dry conditions. Most people lose them in the winter due to too-wet conditions. Cyp guttatum requires a long winter - which is really not a big issue if you grow them outside; if you grow in pots and refrigerate in the winter they need 4-5 months refrigeration whereas most species only need 3 or so. I have some youngsters that have not yet bloomed but they are doing very nicely. Do you have a local grower with older plants - I am not sure where in OH you live but Carson Whitlow is reasonably "close" as would be Roberts Flower Supply.

Ron Burch
fundulopanchax

I would be glad to send you seeds...I always pollinate a couple and let nature take its course in hopes of increasing their population here. Just let me know by fall if you would prefer seeds/pod or whatever.

I was considering purchase from Roberts, as he has very reasonable prices and I was extremely satisfied with the reginaes I got from him. I would probably get two of each plant and try one in a container with an artificial winter and the other outdoors year round.

I really like the look of fargesii, but if margaritaceum or lichiangense would be easier to grow, they would be an even substitute as I can't tell the difference from photos on the web.

Thanks for the info about the culture, I really like some of the non-native cyps and have the suitable habitat for many...now I just have more learning to do about their native areas and which are suitable.
Jon

Jon, are these in your yard? or a local forest? I will have to talk with you so I can take a trip and see where all of the local cyps are growing.

Ron, you are a bad man showing us all of these wonderful photos and giving us too much info. My wife is going to kill you :lol:

Once she sees the plants she will be angry with you for not getting any sooner! :D

Ron

Once she sees the plants she will be angry with you for not getting any sooner! :D

She hates my killies and you know how pretty they are, but you never know she surprises me every once in awhile :lol:

If nothing else, it's usually easier to ask for forgiveness than it is to ask for permission when it comes to loved ones, lol.

I can tell/show you a bunch of places that are pretty close if you just want to see the yellows. Usually our society gets a group together to roadtrip to Shawnee State Park in the spring...and they have native orchids galore! They've got the pinks and yellow ladyslippers, Showy Orchis, whorled Pogonia, rattlesnake plantains, and a couple others on top of all the other interesting wild plants you don't find outside of virgin forest.
There is also Cedar Bog, and they've got all the native orchids that don't grow at Shawnee...might try to get the society to arrange something to go here if others are interested.
Jon

Ron,
I'll see you the first two weeks of May. I hope you have room for the four of us...

FANTASTIC photos and setup!

thanks Jon, a roadtrip sounds great, if not I can go with the family one weekend

How tall do the Cyp pubescens grow? It is hard to judge from the photos. Maybe 18"-24"?
Thanks!

This is quite a variable species. Really established plants with several stems can reach 20 inches or so. Most are in the 12 - 15 inch range. The parviflorum subspecies is even more variable, one variety called "makasin" - with variations on the spelling - is often only 3 inches in height, most are less than 12 inches. Like reginae, the place where they grow may affect height due to light (taller in shadier locations) as do other environmental conditions - there are several reports of interesting-looking clones growing "typical" when moved to more typical locations.

Ron Burch

Here is my biggestl clump of cultivated C pubescens. It has rather dark brown tassels - more like those seen in parviflorum, but with the size and habit of pubescens - they illustrate why the two are subspecies! Lots of others soon behind!

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/fundulopanchax/Cypripedium/Cyppubescensclumpsmall.jpg

Ron Burch
Wilton CT

Beautiful!

Gorgeous! I would love, someday, to grow these in my yard. When I have the appropriate yard! :D

Ron, I have a colleague at work who says she has Cyp. acaule in WHITE in her yard. I keep reminding her to tell me when they bloom, so I can get pics. Do you (or does anyone?) know of an alba variety? Curious!

Hi, Heather,

Yes, acaule alba is a recognized variety. I have seen them but they are not common. A few people have successfully raised a few but like acaule in general most people cannot keep them going for many years in captivity. A very attractive variety!

Ron Burch

Ron, is this a picture of in the wild or at your place? And are you going to the AKA convention in DC this year?

this one is in my back garden. Around here the wild pubescens, which are fairly common, never have a chance to get very lush since they spring up in places where the trees - or more accurately foreign invasive shrubs - shade them out quickly. There are a few nice clumps in two local Nature Conservancy sites. I hope to get to them next Tuesday to see what I can shoot - work really gets in the way of important things!

I do hope to make the AKA meeting in DC - when I lived there I was one of the twelve founding members of the CAKC - a great group of people although most of the originals, Monty Lehman and me, for example, have moved out of the area and others are no longer with us. Interestingly, a few who were "geezers" then - a situation I am rapidly approaching - are still going strong!

Ron Burch

that is great Ron, I'll be there. I'll be the one with the AKA videos and I'll be videotaping the presentations. Make sure we meet if you make it. I am friends with Monty and I am good friends with Joe Bulterman.

Here are plants shot this morning that are blooming for the second year (there are a few around them not in the photo that are blooming for the first time and three whose flowers the groundhog ate!). These are in my back garden - nursery.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/fundulopanchax/Cypripedium/Cyppubescens13May2005.jpg

Ron Burch

Darn groundhog!

You have a beautiful yard, Ron! They're gorgeous!

nice, I wish I had enough land that I could have a nursery

Ron, I can fix your groundhog problem as long as your neighbors are in agreement! Heck, the groudhog is probably eating up their plants too.

Deadeye Garland

While trying to frame another plant yesterday, this crossed my viewfinder and I couldn't resist. While all Cypripedium flowers are beautiful, Cypripedium pubescens always looks as if it is ready to fly away!

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/fundulopanchax/Cypripedium/CyppubescensWFF21May2005.jpg

Ron Burch

I love the defiant, rather upstanding stance of some of the slippers. Perhaps it is also camera angle? People often seem to say similar things about a certain species - such as this, flying away, or lowii, being like aliens descending.

The other Cypripediums look "stately" but pubescens, because they hang on relatively long stems which are quite plastic, bounce up and down in the slightest breeze. When a group of stems on a single plant do this, they look to me like some sort of wasp-like insects, hovering above the ground - no camera angle thing, they always look like this unless they are viewed directly "face forward."

Ron

Lovely, Ron. Mine have been hammered by two thunderstorms in the last few days and amazingly have not suffered too badly. Only the lip of one bloom I could see had any water in it out of thirty or so. I guess that umbrella sepal really works. 8)

they look "stately and proper" :clap:

Love those yellow egg shaped pouches! Very cute!