Thursday, May 27, 2010

Yellow Lady's Slippers

The mystery photo last Tuesday was indeed a Yellow Lady Slipper!   You are all good guessers!   Years ago Far Guy ordered tiny little plants from a laboratory in Minnesota called Spangle Creek Labs.  These plants are the result of those plantings.  

In Minnesota you can dig up and move Lady Slippers with the permission of the property owner.  I am not sure why you would do this..possibly in the case of building a road or a building site that was going to destroy the plants.   It is illegal to dig them from the ditch.  If I see you, I am going to get your license plate number and turn you in.  You will pay a fine, that and I am probably going to take your picture too.

The Yellow Lady's Slipper or Cypripedium parviflorum variety pubescens is one of forty-two species of native orchids in Minnesota.  I have only seen three, up until last year I had only seen two.  Who knows what the summer will bring. 

The Yellow Lady's Slipper plants out front in the really wild flowery gardens always bloom first.  We also have a patch of plants that were on this property along the back drive,  they will bloom in a few weeks.   The State Flower Cypripedium reginae or the Showy Lady Slipper usually blooms around Fathers Day until July 4th if the weather is not too hot.  The rare White Lady's Slipper or Cypripedium reginae forma albolabium blooms around July first..at least that is when it bloomed last year, this year we will wait and see what happens:)

16 comments:

  1. Wild flowers make my heart go pitter pat...that is one gorgeous flower! Kim

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  2. Gorgeous flowers... very nice!

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  3. Lovely! And your new header is great!!!

    Kisses for Chance,
    Emma Rose

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  4. Very beautiful photos Connie as is your new header.

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  5. Thanks for stopping by my blog. Yes, I stumbled onto Forgotten Photos awhile back & enjoy seeing them. It amazes me what clues she finds to narrow down the date.

    I've enjoyed your photos, as well. :)

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  6. Those are so neat! Nothing like them here.

    Linda
    http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com/

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  7. NC has laws protecting lady slippers also. We have pink and yellow ones although the yellow ones are pretty rare around here. I tried transplanting some pink ones from the place one of my son's graded to build his house but sadly they didn't live but 1 year,guess they didn't like thier new home. Blessings to you.

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  8. I'll bring my camera tomorrow. Hope they're still flowering. Let's go looking for the whites again when it's time. See what else we can find!!!

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  9. Your header is beautiful....

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  10. These are wonderful photos of these flowers!

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  11. I think I have mentioned before that we have smaller forms of orchid like flowers in our prairies but it is against the law to do any moving of anything like that. Harvest all the seed that you want. I have removed sand from my neighbors swimming pool foundation and planted a while back. I always thought the yellow ones looked tougher or more rigorous than the the pink ones.

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  12. I don't think I had ever seen these before. Very pretty.

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  13. My home is Petoskey, Michigan, just 50 miles south of the Mackinaw Bridge. Two yrs ago, I spotted a lovely sight in my back yard. A Yellow Lady's Slipper was growing into the wood of the bush it was near. There it was, mostly shaded, but also morning sunlight could warm it. I transplanted an offshoot of it, not knowing whether it would grow in my "wild" garden beside our home. There is a fir tree near the spot where I planted it, and it took right off. This yr it propagated itself, and even has seeds on it.
    I am in a Biology 101 class, and we have a plant project to grow for the semester and credit. I chose this plant, and will try very hard to grow it from the seed, even though I have read that it won't grow. Wish me lots o' luck!!!! :-)

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  14. we have these in Michigan, too. In the Upper Peninsula near Search Bay (between Mackinaw & Hessel) they grow wild throughout the forest surrounding the bay. I've got a friend who is going to do some paintings of these flowers for our house and for a friend (the friend that was with me when we discovered these little gems). Also, they're a protected species of flora in Michigan State & National Parks, as well! GREAT SITE, keep on doin'! - Les, from Detroit.

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Thanks for stopping by! I appreciate your comments! If you have a question I will try to answer it here. I no longer accept anonymous comments. All comments will be approved before posting...due to spammers...may the fleas of a thousand camels infest every hair on his body. Connie