I live in Southern Maine at my current home for the past 3 years. I have immensely enjoyed seeing pink lady slippers (cypripedium acaule) bloom every year in a small strip of pine woods between my house and the neighbors. Last year I counted 23. This past winter, the neighbors had all the trees cut on their property basically decimating the natural growing habitat. :( I have been watching to see if they come back and it appears that a few of them are. However, now that they have lost their natural habitat, I doubt they will come back next year. They will be in the sun all day long. I would like to move them to another location but don't have a single idea on how to go about this. I am pretty ignorant about these plants as I have always been taught that they are a protected species and to "look but don't touch". Can anyone help me do this successfully?

the best time to transplant is in the fall when they have gone dormant.
whether or not they'll make it, i dunno. some places they grow in almost full sun, others, deep shade.
i also thought they were a protected species, but from what i recently heard from a cyp expert, they're not actually protected by anything other than cites....

Hi, Patricia,

That is too bad as they will certainly not survive in the sun. It is commonly thought that the pink lady slipper is protected but it is not in any state where it occurs. While these plants have horrible records of survival when moved, in this case it is the only chance. Tullock has had reasonably good success with rescue by digging the plants at least one foot away from the stems to minimize cutting the roots. Then plant them in a shady location, under pine trees, or hemlocks if pine is not available. He uses a mixture of peat moss and pine bark. These plants like very acidic conditions so do not try to water them with any kind of municipal water and do not fertilize them as that will lead to rapid death.

Good luck with your effort!

Ron Burch

GOOD LUCK to you!

I transplanted several last year and they all went on to flower. I dug them up just after the leaves were emerging from the ground, and were still in tight bud. I planted them in an area on my property where the cyps already were growing, so I knew they liked the spot.

Good Luck! I am going to be transplanting some this fall.

Thanks to everyone for responding. Since they are currently in full bloom, I will mark the location and try transplanting this fall. Only two plants blossomed and it appears there are two more plants without blossoms. A sad ending to having 32 blossom last year. There are plenty of pines around my property so I am hoping they will respond favorably next spring. The odd thing is that I have yet to see any growing in those locations even though the area is approximately 200-300 feet away from where they are currently growing.