I have been paying very little attention to my garden as I’ve been busy, and we are getting a new roof, which involves flying shingles, tarps and ladders and the trampling of plants. I don’t want to look! After the roofers are gone I will assess the damage and dig in, but for now I just gaze out the window or walk quickly through the garden, as if I have blinders on. Then it suddenly occurred to me the other day that I had not seen my lady’s slippers, which are fortunately in the back, out of harm’s way. It’s always a guessing game as to how many slippers this one plant (now about 15 years old) will produce: generally there is an increase of one slipper per year, but last year (perhaps because of our historic winter) their number actually decreased, to thirteen. So with some trepidation, I walked slowly to the back of the garden, behind the ferns, and there they were in full bloom and glory: seventeen lady’s slippers, four more than last year. Amazing! Glorious! Wondrous! And above all, inspiring: now I must get out there to tend to the rest of my (less spectacular) plants.
Lady’s Slippers on the first of June, 2016.
June 2nd, 2016 at 5:02 am
Congratulations on your wonderful bevy of Lady Slippers! Growing up in Maine, I remember encountering a single pink one here and there in walks in the woods, but this is the first time I’ve seen that many all in one place. Lovely!
June 2nd, 2016 at 7:51 am
So true, Laura…They bring back memories of me playing with my brothers and sisters in the woods behind my NJ home..Unfortunately, my childhood home was sold and the woods developed into warehouses! It’s true sometimes you can’t go home. The vision of wild pink lady slippers lives on only in my memory.
Thanks for the memories, Donna
June 3rd, 2016 at 5:20 pm
Nice to know someone has similar memories!
June 10th, 2016 at 5:34 am
House contractors and flower gardens: the impossible combination. Between roof repairs and having to cut down some trees last fall, our lawn is looking bare this year. My partner’s been digging up the lawn and planting seeds this spring, but so far the main result is finding out how much junk was buried in the yard.
June 10th, 2016 at 7:17 am
It’s horrible–I think I will be finding remnants of the last roof for years!