Lady Slippers

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.


4 responses to “Lady Slippers

  • aimee

    There were some lovely pink ones at Harold Parker… and then some jerk kid picked a few of them. I was horrified.

  • julia

    Lovely slippers and not easy to grow. You must have ‘green fingers’!

  • thedailydish

    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.

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