It is an exciting week in the garden as the Lady Slippers have made their appearance. About a decade ago my friend Rebecca, who was helping me set up my garden and teaching me how to garden at the same time, purchased a single slipper (Cypripedium calceolus) at the annual plant auction at Garden in the Woods in Framingham, Massachusetts for the princely sum of $90.00, if I remember correctly (which was about a third of my garden budget for the whole summer). Now I have SEVEN lady slippers! With apologies for my lackluster plant photography, here they are, in context and close-up.
As a bonus here is an illustration of a Cypripedium from James Sowerby’s 36-volume English Botany (1790). While wildly plentiful in Sowerby’s time, yellow lady slippers have been endangered in Britain until just recently.
June 6th, 2011 at 9:09 am
There were some lovely pink ones at Harold Parker… and then some jerk kid picked a few of them. I was horrified.
June 6th, 2011 at 10:08 am
Lovely slippers and not easy to grow. You must have ‘green fingers’!
June 7th, 2011 at 9:16 am
high praise from you, Julia!
June 10th, 2011 at 11:52 am
Beautiful and so dainty! I think you’ve gotten your money’s worth from that initial princely investment of $90~!!! Good job!
PS: I saw a photograph of lady’s slippers on a refuge sign near our house — apparently there must be some back in the woods somewhere. I thought of you! Will have to keep my eyes peeled. Thank for the great post.