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.

In the wild, Calypso seems to have quite exacting ecological
preferences. I've learned to look for them in open, mossy areas
under Douglas firs -- there's a certain feel or scent to the
Right Kind of place that I can't describe in words very well.

As Calypso, so Cypripedium, possibly with some exceptions.

--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada