The Lady's Slippers along the driveway are in bloom. I believe there are four blooms. You cannot get real close because of the Poison Ivy!
The sun was very bright at noon when I took the photos with my cell phone. I was running errands...checking on/playing with dogs, getting the mail, taking the garbage out and checking on she who sees robins first (knee surgery). I picked a good time to be out and about as it rained quite hard later in the afternoon.
Far Side
There are Yellow Lady Slippers along our driveway, this year there are four blooms.
Such a pretty flower...one of my favorites!
Peach had a cake! So she is officially one! Jen shared this photo with us.
Far Side
We played Splendor with my baby brother and his bride...I did not win. Far Guy played the newly refurbished Pin Ball Machines at their lake home. We got to pet Baxter. That was pretty much the excitement for the day.
The Yellow Lady Slippers are blooming along our driveway. Three blooms is what I counted, two flower stalks were eaten off. The photo only shows two blooms...note the dreaded Poison Ivy in the lower right corner.
I have at least three projects going at once, needless to say progress is slow on all of them.
Far Side
Far Guy and I did errands on Saturday morning, garbage to the transfer station and a trip to town for special orders....a new/old car part and a lawn mower part. Town was busy and were so sorry we missed a visit by cousins Jack and Pat.
In the afternoon my baby brother called... so off we went to clean up some headstones...we got a number of them done...using plain water and a soft brush.
I managed to do a few photos for Find A Grave while he was finishing up.
On the way there something caught my eye...in one bend in the road...
The early blooming Yellow Lady Slippers.
Far Guy started supper for me and I made it home in time to eat with him.
Far Side
Not the kind you put on your feet. The flower kind.
The Lesser Yellow Lady’s Slippers are coming to an end. I have seen more of these than any other year in our area of Minnesota. The conditions and spring weather must have been just perfect.
Nine was the most I found in a clump. The Lesser Yellows are about 1/3 the size of the regular yellows…which are not blooming yet.
The Minnesota State Flower is just beginning to bloom. We saw them over at Tamarac National Wildlife Refuge on Tuesday evening.
The Showy Lady’s Slipper or Cypripedium reginae.
I am certain that you will see more of these on this blog before their bloom season is over.
Many plants are just heavy in bud.
The small Yellow Lady’s Slippers are blooming in the Wild Gardens.
Cypripedium parviflorum
This is the first orchid to bloom in our area. The ones in the wild gardens always bloom before the ones in the woods. These particular orchids were grown from tissue culture in a laboratory in Bovey Minnesota. Far Guy planted them in the wild gardens many years ago.
This is one of my favorite plants. So far there are six buds…but I think there are more to come.
It rained really hard on Saturday we got 1 1/2 inches of rain so we are officially out of the drought we were in. I have to mow the lawn every five days…seems like I barely get done and it needs mowing again.
The Yellow Lady’s Slippers along the back drive had one early bloom and four late ones…so there were five in total. In 2012 there were seven blooms.
This year there are four…
and this one makes five.
We have been working on our woodcarvings that are Christmas Ornaments. They are coming along.
Jen had a 8mm kidney stone blasted yesterday, hopefully the particles are small enough to pass on their own now. She was resting…and Handy Andy will be taking good care of her.
Far Guy is feeling better, he still has a bit of a cough. I am feeling better except I am still real tired. So I rest and nap.
The Yellow Lady’s Slipper was well worth the walk down the back drive.
She is a little lonely this year, it was a tough winter. Last year we had seven blooms and this year only one.
She is a beauty. Her real name is Cypripedium parviflorum. This is just one of the 42 species of native orchids in Minnesota.
At least one survived and she will spread her pepper like seeds and hopefully they will fall on the special fungus that they need to survive and grow and in 20 years or so there will be more orchids.
My parents brought out homemade chicken and rice soup, I had a nap and a sauna and practically feel like a new only slightly sick person.
Sat in the yard for a few minutes last night. Good to be outside after so many days incarcerated indoors.
Here are the Lady Slippers I had hoped to photograph last week..they are not perfect anymore but there were twelve in this clump. These are early Yellow Lady Slippers more will bloom in a week or so. Far Guy bought these tissue culture plants from a Bovey Minnesota Laboratory and planted this group about 14 years ago.
June 10 2014 in our yard….good to take a photo again.
I felt good enough on Monday to go on a little trip through the local wildlife refuge.
We found some Yellow Lady's Slippers.
The little plant with the white plume is False Lily of the Valley.
We had not been to Tamarac Lake for a long time.
Only one boat was on the lake.
Chance enjoyed the water.
We kept throwing the stick further in the water..he was patient and waited for it to come closer to him. He never actually swam..but he got awfully wet.
I am back to work today. I am feeling better. I am still sore but the knife stabbing pain is gone for now. I discontinued the muscle relaxant that made me sleep for hours on end. I don’t remember much of the three day weekend..I was in a bit of a pain filled fog. I had so many things planned..and got very few of them accomplished. Oh well.
Today is the last day of school tours..59 kids are scheduled for today. I also scheduled a work day for the Board Members, I am putting the action plan they wanted into motion:)
The Yellow Lady’s Slipper( Cypripedium parviflorum) are in bloom. I took these photos on May 19, 2012.
They seem shorter this year..that could be due to the lack of moisture.
We have a wire cage around them to discourage the deer.
This bloom is playing peek a boo..
This one is unfurled…in all it’s glory. This is just one of forty-two species of native orchids in Minnesota:)
I did get just a few photos of the Yellow Lady’s Slippers on the back driveway. This year there are seven blooms. Ten years ago we had three blooms. You have to be patient!
The seventh is there but very hard to see off to the left of slipper number five. If there weren’t located in a sea of Poison Ivy I would have gotten closer. I already have one spot of miserable ivy on my hand ..I suppose from my friend Chance.
Far Guy and I have the same conversation every year. He says “I don’t see the Yellow Lady’s Slippers..I bet they didn’t make the winter.” I reply “Be patient, they will show up for Fathers Day..and so far I have been correct.”
These Yellow Slippers along the back drive are very shaded by the trees to the west of the drive, if they were in a sunny location they would bloom earlier. The ones located in the gardens just west of these are all done blooming and have been for many weeks.
This evening we found two new Lady Slipper Plants in our Gardens..they were a nice surprise. They are just tiny and may bloom in a couple of years..patience:)
Last Monday I noticed that our Yellow Lady’s Slippers were blooming. It happened so fast, but right on time. We had 16 blooms this year..they were awesome!
There are 42 different species of Orchids in Minnesota. I have seen three..maybe four..perhaps even five. I say maybe because I have seen a much smaller yellow lady slipper on several occasions. I think that there may be about three yellow varieties. The yellow ones along our back road are not even up yet, they will bloom around Father’s Day, so I think they are a totally different variety too.
Far Guy, Chance and I took off for the Wildlife Refuge. It is one of my favorite places. I knew where to look for the Lady Slippers.
These were all shy.
These were just as beautiful as can be. It was a wonderful afternoon spent in the refuge, a cemetery and a antique shop..my favorite kind of day:)
I had some time to look around in the yard yesterday. I think Spring may have sprung for a few days at least. We will have a few nice days and then at the end of the week we are back to 50 degrees again…plus it is supposed to rain all week.
They are back! We don’t eradicate them..their foliage is green. I love all yellow flowers! When I was a kid, the rule was you could not go barefoot until the Dandelions were out.
This is my Fern Leaf Peony “ Larry’s Kindness.” It made it through the winter and hopefully it will bloom this year! I will clip back last years stalks now that I know that it has survived.
If you look closely there are eight ..count them eight Yellow Lady Slipper shoots!! I will not remove the leaf duff yet, it provides badly needed insulation on cool frosty mornings. I suppose I should pull a few of those weeds and chop off that wild raspberry.
Some of the brush is starting to bud out in the woods. The tiny deer ticks are present in great numbers. Too bad the birds don’t eat them. I told Far Guy and Chance to go and buy some chickens, they could be chicken farmers for the summer. Chickens eat ticks.
Something is eating my chives..that is no big loss, if they don’t flower they cannot go to seed and spread all over the place. It could be deer or it may be a bunny rabbit. Most everything I have in my wild gardens can survive a pruning by deer or rabbits..that is just the way it is:)
