"Ted Byers" wrote in message ...
I am wondering if it remains too risky to
put them in their final destination yet, or if I should pot them up and then
in a couple weeks go through the usual process of hardening houseplants that
are to go outside. And if I should put them in pots, would they do well in
those biodegradable pots (e.g. Jiffy pots, which are made out of some kind
of fibre - designed to minimize transplant shock by allowing one to just
place the whole pot in the ground, or so the package says) in ordinary
potting soil. All six have broken dormancy.

The vendor thought that putting them in pots would be higher risk than
putting them into their bed and perhaps covering them should the
temperatures drop too much. What do you all think?

I don't know about Bletillas, but frost will destroy Cypripedium buds
and may harm the vegetation once they have broken dormancy. If they
are already growing, I would be tempted to grow them in pots this year
and plant them out next year. If you have squirrels in your area, you
might want to grow them in pots forever.

What Cypripedium species do you have? Cyp parviflorum and Cyp.
candidum do well in a mix of peat and perlite, or just pure perlite.
Cyp. acaule seems to like a mix of peat and acidic sand.

Nick
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Nicholas Plummer