Cyp kentuckiense has the largest "slipper" of all the Cypripediums except the Mexican species. This species grows along sandy riverbanks in Kentucky, Arkansas and Tennessee. Unlike the situation for all other North American Cypripediums, they grow in very little organic matter and depend on silt from flooding for much of their nutrition. In my garden they are grown in sandblasting sand with a bit of grass clipping mulch. When I first tried them in the rich material that I use with my other species, they rotted each winter.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/fundulopanchax/Cypripedium/cypripediumkentuckienseJ20030619.jpg

Ron Burch

Great flower Ron
That's my home town Cyp.

I will look along the banks of the Big Sandy next time I visit relatives in Kentucky.

Cyp kentuckiense also is found with cream-colored petals in addition to the common white petals. This is a photo of a plant that is flowering now in the basement under lights. It was obtained from Hillside Nursery last fall too late for me to get into the ground. I had never ordered from Hillside before this but they had a sale on larger orders. A friend and I ordered a number of these for an outstanding price and we were sent plants that were enormous and of extremely good quality - the sale was better than we thought (if you put Hillside Nursery Cypripedium into Google you will get the correct place). The plants have very attractive cream-colored petals:

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

(the cream is more intense than seen here - I need to play with colors in photobucket where I am placing these, some of the lighter colors are coming out even more light than they should be. Once I figure it out I will replace the photo in the post)

Ron Burch

Ron,
It looks as though these have little transluscent areas towards the back of the pouch, similar to Phrag. besseae var. flavum. Is that true?

That's a very impressive flower Ron.

You can see a real difference in form between the top flower posted and the lattest one.

very nice Ron, I was out in the yard yesterday looking for possible areas to plant some cyps

Ron,

Fantastic pictures! Dr. Neptune from Massachussetts grew these fabulously!

thanks

This is really nice

Yes, Dr. Neptune has been for many years the grower of spectacular specimen Cypripediums. He has received numerous AOS awards for his plants.

Ron

Wow what a natural beauty! I need to look into this genus more.....

Fan-dang-tastic! :clap:

I'd like to expand my Cyp collection but space limits me to ones that can be grown outside. However, just last night I had the brainstorm of wintering pots in picnic coolers in the detached, unheated garage.

That can work, but it is very important to find a spot in which they will not repeatedly freeze and thaw as that will kill them. I find that keeping pots outside to winter works well if I dig a ditch deep enough that the tops of the pots are just below ground level. Since I am in a wooded area, I put metal screening into the the ditch to line it (to keep voles and mice out), then set the pots in and fasten the screening over them. I then fill the ditch up with leaves and make sure the leaves are mounded well above it, to a height of about 4 - 6 inches. I find that if these top leaves have been run through the lawn mower prior to piling that the wind does not blow them around. Some folks like to make a 6-12 inch high chicken wire fence around the ditch and fill this with leaves to assure they dont blow away. This system keeps the pots nice and cold but they do not freeze-thaw. It also assures that they do not dry out. In late March I uncover the pots but leave them in the ditch so that if there is to be frost, I can rake some leaves back over them. I have not lost any American Cyps using this system. Sometimes it is reported that more warm-loving Cyps like formosanum will break dormancy and be killed by frosts - so far I have not had this happen, but I am careful to make sure I cover the pots if there is to be frost. One other comment - some of the Asian Cyps like rather dry winters so many growers, if they do the sunken pot thing like this, will place a waterproof tarp over the top of the pile of leaves.

Ron

That sounds like a good system. I've looked all over my "grounds" and there are only a couple available spots I could try this. Unfortunately one is right by the west foundation and would be hard to keep thermally stable. My thought with the coolers-in-the-garage scenario is that the pots would freeze slowly and stay buffered both by the coolers and the fact that the garage is on a north-facing slope under deciduous trees which still shade it somewhat in winter. Also, it's an old garage that wee furry things can get into so I thought the coolers would provide some protection. My only concern was condensation but that shouldn't happen if they freeze and stay frozen. Heck, I could probably get by with just some large plastic storage bins that are so common everywhere now.

I have been tempted myself to give one a try. But atlas haven't got around to it. Thanks for sharing these Ron!

Thanks fore lovely pictures and nice growing ideas.
This will come inhandy when mine is to be survived over winter.
Joakim

Very interesting flower :D