Back to Orchid Week.
Look awake!
😉
Said to be fussy, we found Showy Lady’s Slippers growing in the dappled shade along someone’s driveway in Bailey’s Harbor, Wisconsin.
In someone’s driveway!
Like a common weed!
The location of the most prized orchids are oftentimes kept a secret so people won’t dig them up and carry them away. The kind people at The Ridges led us to these for photos.
Aren’t they pretty?
Ever seen any?
Wandering out to the driveway to see what I can find there…
I know where there is an entire glade of these orchids blooming. It takes a five mile hike, the last two through a swamp, to get to them. The mosquitoes will be as thick as thieves. At the right time there will be hundreds in bloom. It is one of the most beautiful sights I have seen in the woods. Well worth all the trouble to get there. And we keep the spot a secret, too.
In a driveway? How came it to be there?
This post brought back memories Laura. When I was a little girl, my mom and I would search the woods for Lady Slipper orchids. We would never pick them or dig them up…we just wanted to find their hiding spots. At the time, my Aunt lived in Shawnee, PA and she found yellow Lady Slippers on her property. I’ve never been lucky enough to find any since then.
Several years ago, I went on a nature walk led by an expert on the subject, and he showed us some tiny rare orchids in the middle of a bog. Other than that, I have only seen orchids in greenhouses.
Forest Green: Hey! That sounds really beautiful and totally worth the hike in for them.
KGMom: I don’t know… something about the site they really seemed to like tho!
Dorothy: Hi! Yellows are rare around here, I think, but they’re so beautiful!
I hope you’ll find some again someday.
Bobbie: Yep… those little bog orchids are beauties if you can spot ’em!
There are two species of Ladies Tresses growing on the side of 206 across form Atsion lake. I got some really crappy pictures to prove it!
The Philadelphia Botanical Club has a field trip this Saturday, August 1st, to go visit the Savannahs of the Batsto River to search for orchids and other flowers. Starting at Atsion. I’ll let you know what we find. Or you could just come along and see for yourself.
Ah – beautiful! One of my favorite plants, the Queen of Orchids. It seems apropos that they are pollinated by large fuzzy bumblebees, which enter the pouch, tussle wildly about, and emerge thoroughly dusted with pollen and fly angrily away to repeat the process.
Nice pic, nice post.
Jim
KGMom – the driveway where the lady’s slippers grow is in the middle of The Ridges Sanctuary, an area set aside mainly for wildflower protection. The orchids are there because the driveway happens to have the right conditions (soil type, moisture, sunlight) for these fussy plants. AND, most importantly, the homeowner didn’t establish a lawn there!!