Natural backyard orchids

[MCD]

Came across this picture from last summer and thought I'd share. By far my easiest to care for orchids , these (cyprepedium acaule) grow naturally in a small patch in my backyard. The location is under a large pine tree, shady, well mulched by leaves and pine needles. It's in a bit of a depression with a body of water a few meters away, so it's pretty much constantly moist throughout spring and summer. Most years I'll see 2-3 flowers, 5-6 on a good year. I can see many smaller plants, so hopefully this patch can keep going for many years to come.

[Ray]

Fantastic. There is just something special about seeing orchids in the wild.

A couple pieces of advice: Don’t mess with the area at all, and you might think about pollinating a blossom or two, letting the capsule mature and drop its seed.

[MCD]

Originally Posted by Ray

Fantastic. There is just something special about seeing orchids in the wild.

A couple pieces of advice: Don’t mess with the area at all, and you might think about pollinating a blossom or two, letting the capsule mature and drop its seed.

This particular area is very unlikely to get disturbed, intentionally or accidentally, by humans anyway. Can't vouch for deer and beavers though... .

Pollinating is an intriguing idea, might look into it when the time comes in June.

[estación seca]

Thank you! It's always great to see orchids in the wild.

[Roberta]

Beautiful. Thank you for sharing this very special treat!

[nemesis]

Sooooo AWESOME! It is precious.

[Keysguy]

I spend my summers in a condo we own on a small lake in New Hampshire. We have 80 or so units but we are set on a tract of land of roughly 180 acres, most of which is under a conservation easement.

We recently did some selective timber harvest by professional foresters who did a great job cleaning up the forest floor as part of the project. In the past few years I've spent time cataloging the numerous C. acaule colonies around the property. We have many and it always amazes me the variety of mico-environments they can thrive in. I find them in deep shade woods to right out in day long sunlight but always surrounded by acidic pine needles on a well drained gravel underlayment.