Here is a picture from last year of my Cypripedium calceolus. I have had this clump for 5 years.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y4/wolfcreekmn/cypcalceolus1.jpg

Eric

Wonderful! :joy:
That's very beautiful! I do like the yellow ones, but have never seen one blooming in the wild, just at botanical gardens.

I want to research some of these natives and try to incorporate them into my landscape. They look great :-dance:

Oh, I like the yellow ones.

This is the top of the Paph/Phrag/Cyp food chain as far as I'm concerned! Now that I'm back in a temperate climate with native orchids all over I'd love to have a yard display like that. I have found cyp. acaule for sale that were dug up prior to highway construction but would prefer one of the yellow units like yours! Our local display (Virginia) should begin in a few weeks.

GREAT GROWING!!!

Thanks for the complements. When I got this clump from a friend 5 years ago it had 5 growths. I waited for about 5 years to get it, she told me if it moves away from her clump she would give me that part. It was well worth the wait. :-dance: It now has 17 growths as of last year.


Eric

Those are beautiful!!! How did you prepare the soil before you planted them? Maybe I am buying some!
Every spring our local orchid society visit an area where Cypr. calceolus grow in the wild. Here is one photo (not good - it's taken with a video camera)

http://usera.imagecave.com/Milda/cypripedium01.JPG

:D Milda :D

Beautiful! I love the large yellow ladyslippers! What time of year do they bloom for you in Norway?

Eric, when do they start blooming here in North America? Thanks!

Hi Peter!
It depends on the temperature, cold or warm spring, but where I live they normally flowers in the end of May, beginning of June. Hope to go to the habitat this year as well, bringing my new camera 8)

:D Milda :D

Here it is usually right about Mother's Day when they bloom. Which stinks for me because that is when my museum re-opens so I can never get out to see them until it is too late. :( I usually see the acaule but not the calceolus or kentuckiense(sp?) which I think is the other yellow one they have at Garden in the Woods.

Hello, here in southern Minnesota they bloom in May. Mine seem to be on the clock :D in the last 4 years they have bloomed as follows.
5-20-01
5-23-02
5-21-03
5-12-04 we had a early spring last year.

Hi Milda, When I planted these I didn't do anything to the soil. I have these planted under a Ginnala maple where the soil is black and fertile. Cypripedium calceolus are the easiest to grow .

Eric

The ones out in the woods around us usually bloom in the first couple weeks of June.

Can I grow those outside here in Northern VA? I'm pretty sure we have some native to this area. All I've heard is they hate to be transplanted. Any ideas? Garland?

Can I grow those outside here in Northern VA? I'm pretty sure we have some native to this area. All I've heard is they hate to be transplanted. Any ideas? Garland?

I think they are native to the eastern US all the way down to Georgia but I could be wrong. I like the yellow ones because they remind me so much of Paph phil!

Can I grow those outside here in Northern VA? I'm pretty sure we have some native to this area. All I've heard is they hate to be transplanted. Any ideas? Garland?

There are several growers that sell Cyps:

Wayne at Roberts Flower Supply come to mind right away. He's in Ohio, which should be a closer climate to what you have. Here's his website;
http://www.orchidmix.com/

Terp,
I don't know about calceolus myself but I have looked at distribution charts and read journals by other that say they do range this far south, and farther!

I know first hand that our state is full of cyp acaule. I've got a bunch nearby that I'll document when they begin to show. I was at the patch yesterday and they have not yet begun to peek above the pine straw. This patch in a friend's yard and he had no idea what they were. Last time they were in bloom, I saw hundreds there in bloom and younger. They ranged from dark pink to light pink to pure white. They were fairly well distributed among the pine trees on dry ground. They are 50 yards from a saltwater tributary and were immersed in salt water during Hurricane Isabel in 9/03.

I'm tempted to try a few in the yard in prepared beds from an upcoming highway project that is going through another population of them. There is no shortage of acaule here.

I got access to a few thousand additional acres of private land this past hunting season. Its an interesting area that I plan to scout for slippers in a couple of months.

If anyone is in the area in May, I'd be glad to show them the orchids that are in the neighborhood!

Two pictures of Cypripedium calceolus in wild from Norway, 2001. (Click on the pictures):

http://www.cactuz.org/inger/albums/orkide-tur/gruppe_sko_2_600.thumb.jpg (http://www.cactuz.org/inger/gallery/orkide-tur/gruppe_sko_2_600) http://www.cactuz.org/inger/albums/orkide-tur/cypriped_005.thumb.jpg (http://www.cactuz.org/inger/gallery/orkide-tur/cypriped_005)

The pictures are not too good, I have a better camera now :)

Very nice and thanks for posting, IngerK! Nice pics. :)

Aren't they beautiful! Thanks!

I like the contrasting colors of the flower

Hello everyone. I'm glad I saw the link over at the AOS forum and decided to join. Slipperhead when you do the rescue from road construction can you send some this way? :lol: I have been wanting to try some, and havn't gotten around to getting some yet. When things get straighten out down here I was wanting to natralize some in some beds down here in GA. Does it get to hot for them down here? Would these do better if the area planted had some fungus natralized already? I read that these rely on the fungal relationship more than the epiphytic orchids do. COuld that be why some are harder to grow than others? I have loved looking at the pics and seeing all the wonderful slippers. I agree the yellows are fabulous!!!

Hey Josh! Welcome to the forum!

I'm just learning about Cyps so can't really answer, just wanted to say hello! :D

You may be pushing it for temps JB. Allot of Cyp species are uncommon this far south (I'm in TN), and you generally only find them in the woods at higher elevations, where it stays cooler. The yellows are the most adaptable and widest ranging. Are they noramally found in your part of GA?

Not that I am aware of RickL, but then again there is alot of things under my nose at times too. I know we have the cranefly orchid. LOL I don't know about the Cypros though. I don't think so it gets into the 100's regularly during the summer. I'm outside of Augusta and it can get really hot. May be able to grow in pots though and keep them in the GH where I try to keep it below 100, but this is the first year I will have it during the summer and don't know if thats going to be an easy task or not. He he he. Thanks everyone!!