The Minnesota State Flower is the Showy Lady's Slipper. It is a native plant. It's scientific name is Cypripedium reginae and it is in the Orchid family. This is the week to look for them along the ditches in our area. They usually begin blooming around Father's Day. Far Guy and I await these blooms every year, for us it marks the beginning of Summer in Minnesota, Father's Day and of things discovered quite by accident, things lost and found again.
Last week one day I sent Far Guy into a ditch to photograph some Indian Paintbrush for me, traffic was terrible, and it was quite a hike from a safe area to pull over. Usually I wear long pants, and my hiking boots when wandering around in the ditches, and that day I was wearing capris and crocs..very inappropriate for walking in a ditch that probably has Wood Ticks and Poison Ivy and who knows what else. Far Guy really likes Indian Paintbrush and he never wears capris or crocs ..so I sent him in alone. He took forever, and seemed to be spending a lot of time away from the Indian Paintbush. I will have to go back, because he only got one good photo...
Indian Paintbrush or Castilleja coccinea
This is what had captured his attention..and he only got one good photo. I should give him some camera lessons! The Lady Slippers were beginning to bloom on the north side of the road!
The Minnesota State Flower, The Showy Lady's Slipper
Years ago when we first bought the Resort, we stacked up all the logs from the trees that had been uprooted from a tornado, we stacked them in back of the house. The next spring there were still a few logs back there, Far Guy was mowing the grass when he started hollering "Come see this, you are never gonna believe it!!" What he found was a Showy Lady Slipper in bloom, it came up in the lawn and was struggling to bloom on both sides of a log. Former resort owners had been mowing it over for years. Far Guy built a little fence around them. Years later some idiot removed the fence, when Dave bought the place, and was tearing down most of the buildings, he asked us to try and locate them for him. I knew exactly where they were, Far Guy said "Are you sure this is the exact spot?" I was pretty sure, if not exact, really close. We marked the spot and they were saved. It has become quite a clump over the years. Saturday evening we went over to take some photographs. Dave has them surrounded by chicken wire and fence posts, which makes them difficult to photograph, but I tried my best!
I will have to do some serious ditch walking this week, there is nothing like seeing these beautiful plants blooming in the wild :)
