Does anyone have experience with native orchids? I would like to try them in my garden. Please advise. Your help will be highly appreciated.

I think they are beautiful, but I have never grown them

I bought yellow lady's slippers in a sale last year and planted just before the frost. A couple of days ago, I noticed something growing at the spot where I planted the orchids. Since I've never seen a lady's slipper growing, I cannot tell whether these things that are emerging are the orchids. Hope it is not some weed.

I should probably take a picture and post it here. I wonder whether native lady's slippers are difficult to grow.

Here are the pictures. Hope these are the orchid shoots:

There are two emerging shoots in the picture that look like lady's slippers.

As for growing them, they aren't difficult to grow if you can provide conditions similar to what they prefer in the wild (deciduous shade, humus rich soil, etc.). The biggest problem with growing native orchids is the moral aspects, if you will. Many nurseries sell "container grown" orchids, but the plants were dug up in the wild and just stuck in a pot for a little while. It's a despicable practice, frankly. But, if you can find a nursery that propagates them responsibly and you have the right conditions, they are wonderful plants to have in your yard.

Thank you very much.

These orchids were bought at Sheridan nursery, which is a quite important nursery in Toronto. I don't beleive Sheridan would get involved in poaching. These orchids were probably propagated in Germeny. Several other stores got orchids from Germany too. I also saw Cypripedium reginae in a store, but I wasn't sure whether this one can grom in my backyard.

I got my yellow lady's slippers last fall. It was kind of late, perhaps October, and the plants were on sale. I planted mine below Cornus Kousa. Hope it's ok.

Here is my concern; there were at least three stems in the pot when I bought it. Now there are only two stems emerging. I know that I planted them late, but still... Does this mean that they cannot grow in my garden?

I am hoping to get more; the local garden society organizes a sale event in May. The members' plants are obtained responsibly. Hope someone will bring an orchid or two.

Again, thank you.

If anything emerges this spring, that's proof it can grow. Remember the "rule" about planting perennials, takes about 3 yrs to start to get a mature planting. Sleep, creep, leap.

The terrestrial orchids that are native to North America generally don't behave like your typical perennial. There's a LOT of variability from year to year in terms of how much they grow and bloom. They'll even seem to completely disappear for years at a time and then suddenly reappear as if by magic. We've been watching a particular clump of Yellow Lady's Slippers in an oak woodland near here for the past few years. It produced 10 flowering stems in 2012, 6 in 2013, just 1 in 2014, and it looks like it's going to have 4 or 5 this year. Prior to 2012 (when we starting burning that woodland), it had been a decade or more since lady's slippers had last been seen there.

Burning woodland? In zone 5b?

I know about controlled burn in Mediterranean countries, for example, for a pine woodland that might catch fire summertime when the weather is hot, hot and there is not rain. I also heard about burning prairie. What are the reasons for burning an oak woodland? Please advise. I would really like to know.

By the way, I covered the orchids by oak leaves just before the snow last year. Good to know that they like oak leaves. Shall I mulch them with aok leaves? Please advise. Thank you.

Oak woodlands, at least those in North America, need fire to sustain themselves. In the absence of fire, oaks are gradually replaced by other species of trees (primarily hackberries, honey locusts, and mulberries around here, different species in other parts of the country). Since oak trees can live a long time, this process takes awhile. However, after 100 to 300 years of fire suppression across most of the continent, the problem is starting to become acute. Time is running out for oak woodlands in many places. We can either choose to manage them in a way that allows them to generate a new wave of oaks or we can watch them fade off the landscape over the next few decades.

TY for the info, Kent!

Kent,

Are you aware of any articles/scientific papers on restoration applicable to urban gardens? My garden is really small, but there are many small gardens in Toronto. Much more can be done. I would be happy to read some good research papers. Please advise,

Thanks a lot!

A couple of day ago, I noticed the third shoot. I guess my native orchida are doing fine.

By the way, I saw native orchids at the local Lablaws garden centre, so I bougth two more yellow Cypripediums. One of them is bigger, another is kind of smaller. I also saw Cypripedium reginae, both pink and white ones. What are my chances to grow Cypripedium reginae? I don't have really moist spots in my garden.