In article ,
Rodger Whitlock wrote:
On Wed, 5 Feb 2003 23:10:43 -0000, "Sue & Bob Hobden"
wrote:


Yes, C.reginae is a native to [North America] so it would grow wild there, but
it's not so easy to grow over here (UK) without providing very specific
conditions.
Even then it wasn't easy for me 'cause mine died and I can't remember ever
seeing a clump growing naturalised over here.
Someone tell me different, please, I really want to grow it, it's such a
beautiful plant.

Many hardy terrestrial orchids are essentially impossible to
cultivate. Calypso bulbosa, much like a very tiny ladyslipper, is
by no means uncommon here in wild areas, but I've never heard of
anyone actually growing it. Some lucky people have it growing
wild, but there's a big difference between that and true
cultivation.

As I understand it, most cannot survive without a particular symbiotic
fungus (depending on the species), and those fungi are very sensitive
to conditions. I haven't seen it hypothesised, but it wouldn't surprise
me if the fungus was itself dependent on the presence of (say) particular
soil bacteria.

I have heard that you can transplant them by moving some of the soil
around them, but they rarely establish. This implies that that it isn't
just the absence of the fungus that is the problem, but the fact that it
requires particular conditions to thrive.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren,
University of Cambridge Computing Service,
New Museums Site, Pembroke Street, Cambridge CB2 3QH, England.
Email:
Tel.: +44 1223 334761 Fax: +44 1223 334679