Here's another one:

http://www.uslink.net/~brandon/ILF.html
A drive up only place, if you live in Central MN.

http://www.cyphaven.com/
Great plants, but only accepts orders from 8-1 to 9-1 or something like that.

http://www.rmorchids.com/
C. montanum in particular.

http://www.orchidmix.com/cyps.htm
Great seed prop plants of various ages, and some really rare species that I've never seen offered anywhere else!

http://www.thimblefarms.com/98orchidtf.html
Never ordered from them and don't know their ethics. I don't know how they got their more rare stuff....

In MA, they have some Frosch brand hybrids, as well as some species.
http://www.hillsidenursery.biz/

Various Asian orchids, including C. japonicum & debile, though neither are hardy outside in MN and both are difficult to grow. In PA.
http://asiaticanursery.com/index.php/cPath/17/sort/2a/page/1?osCsid=bef13d7cf67ea9d735046f84a9f9a910

Best,
Ross

Having said that, your state is a great place to grow Cyps, especially the native C. reginae and C. parviflorum varieties which aren't too difficult to grow if you start with good plants. Good luck. PF

One more reliable, 100% nursery prop, inexpensive source for acaule and others

http://www.planteck.com

Plantfreak is right parviflorum is "easiest" but not easy.

Good Luck!

I hope this is my last dumb move with native plants. I have made many of them. Love that learning curve! I have dry shade. That will be my last attempt at the pink kind, because I just don't have appropriate habitat for it here....I'll try some yellows next fall.

I was thinking of buying seedlings from Spangle Creek. Ross, thanks for the tip-off on how difficult they can be, you probably just saved me a bit o'the green. Now, I'm off to do some research on the care of cyp seedlings. April

Buy only lab propagated cyps, there are more and more evry year.

If you are interested in growing Cyps, a good choice are the hybrids that are becoming more available each year. I think they will grow in popularity in coming years and the prices will come down a bit. Specifically, the hybrids C. Gisela, C. Aki, C. Ulla Silkens, C. Sabine, and C. Philipp are all worth growing. Especially C. Gisela has shown extreme vigor in gardens, much more so than even the best growing species.

Here's a nursery that carries both hybrid and species Cyps, as well as some really cool woodland perennials. Their prices are reasonable and folks I know who've ordered from them were impressed with the plants they got:

Hillside Nursery

Also, here's a shot of my C. Ulla Silkens last spring. There's lots of variation with this cross and this plant is NOT the best looking one I've seen. PF

hillside nursery
Rocky Mountain orchids
Raisingrarities
Robert's
Plantek
Spangle Creek
Wild Orchid Company
Crusta Care (Belgium)
Vermont Ladyslipper Co
Cyp Haven
Paul Christian (UK)
Fraser's Thimble Farms (Canada)

I'm sure there are more

They better weed their own beds for that kinda $$$!

Sam, they are bareroot because its easier to send that way and many growers cultivate them in beds, not pots. Rarely will you get a potted Cyp in the mail. If you're concerned that your getting wild collected plants, check out this link to look for the telltale signs: black root tips, cut roots, blacken roots, and so on. Don't buy from vendors that sell stock such as this! PF

How long have they been there? Did people just start walking there? These plants can supposedly live 100 yrs or more (I would not know personally because I'm only 39).

They do not like to be disturbed, especially this time of year, much better to mark them and move them in fall when dormant only if absolutely neccesary. Be careful next spring's growth buds are forming now.

Here is a blurb (pdf) from NH Natural Heritage on transplanting Cyp acaule.

Better to preserve the habitats these plants require than to save a single plant. Good Luck!

Any further transplant tips based on this information would be helpful. There aren't very many of them (maybe 5 total that I can see in this woodland area)

BTW, what is a symbiont? Sounds like something I ought to know about. How deep do the roots generally run? I'm confused whether I should transplant a large area in hopes of not disturbing any of the roots or forking the roots and losing much of the medium around it.

Thanks again for your guidance. They are so lovely and we are lucky to have them here. This was never a "planted" area to the best of my knowledge, so they are natural and I would have no way to guess how old they might be.

Trish

Thanks all

As for laws, as long as they are on your property, you can do anything you like to them... Not that I'm saying go put them in the compost bin, but legally you can. Ethically, it's best to leave them since they seem to like it where they are.

As for propagation, they do form new growths if happy enough. cf the link below. They also produce seed, though this species seems to produce seed an average of 10-20% of the time it flowers. Artificial pollination bumps this up to 80-90%. The seeds are the size of a grain of sand and germinate in nature very slowly. It may take 2-5yrs before they show signs of their first leaves, and 6-15yrs (purportedly) to flower. Artificially, we can do better in vitro with seedlings in 1 to 2 yrs and flowering in 3-7yrs.

Best,
Ross

Thanks again!

Trish

The Photo isn't mine, though. Check out Bill Steele's photo pages:

http://www.uslink.net/~scl/photogal.html

http://www.uslink.net/~scl/photoga2.html

http://www.uslink.net/~scl/gardengal.html

Best,
Ross

Have you considered lady slipper orchids (Paphiopedilum)? We recently visited Carter and Holmes Orchids (www.carterandholmes.com) and purchased some very nice ones for indoors. If you contacted them and explained your mothers health situation, I'm sure they would find some in spike to send to you. Your mother could have these to look at inside (in case she is unable to get around outside very much).

The Orchid forum could also recommend some other excellent orchid nurseries.

Gail