Your plants have arrived as bare root and they are dormant. You should plan to plant immediately either by planting directly in a garden bed or planting in a pot. When the maple sugar season starts it is time to plant. We recommend planting in a garden bed so that the plant may grow for many years without being disturbed. If you choose in pot, they should be well mulched. If necessary you may keep the plant in the refrigerator at a temperature between 36F and 40F in moss or other media but do not freeze.

Individual Growing Conditions

Pubescence our easiest to grow native yellow lip with twisted sepals and petals that vary from yellow to brown with a yellow lip. Sometimes with multiple flowers per stem. I grow mine in forest compost with 40-60% shade. Planting near the edge of the woods or near a building with mature trees can usually satisfy this requirement. The soil in which the plant grows should be kept slightly acidic in organic humus and very loose and aerated

Reginae, Showy ladyslipper. A large flower with flat white sepals and petals with a pink to red lip. Often with multiple flowers per stem. Grows naturally in fenns. Keep well watered but not standing in water requires 2 to 3 hours of direct early morning sun or late afternoon sun and be in shade dappled with sun during the rest of the day. Proper planting near the edge of the woods or near a building with mature trees can usually satisfy this requirement. The soil in which the plant grows should be kept a neutral pH (i.e. pH 6.8 - 7.5), very high in organic humus and very loose and aerated. The mix can be kept neutral indefinitely by adding powdered lime to it if needed. Powdered lime should be used only when checking pH in the late fall. Showy's will grow better in dry areas by growing them in a bog or fenn and mulching them in the winter.

Acaule the Cyp most people think of a very nice pink flower on a stem less plant. Needs acidic (4-6) low fertility soil. Can be grown in a bog but it not its preferred location. Does not bloom every year unless very happy. Needs mid afternoon shade. But too much shade will stop flowering. Not for the beginner

Candidum a rare native white lips greenish to brown sepals rarely multiple per stem; prefers full sun. Although slow to develop can form beautiful close clumps. The soil in which the plant grows should be kept slightly acidic and very high in organic humus.

Kentuckiense Our largest flower long yellow and brown twisted side with flat overhanging top petal and a light yellow lip. Flowers up to 4 x 6 in. Grows in sandy soil about 50% shade. Still learning here.

Montanum Small plants with yellow lip and dark twisted sepals. Needs a well-drained mix. With 50% shade. I am still playing with this one for good growing. Not easy

For all cyps. media in which plant is growing should be kept evenly moist yet never soaking wet in the spring . Media must be well drained with never any standing water. Try to avoid watering with hard or chlorinated water. If you must, collect rainwater or buy distilled.

After the plant has gone dormant in the fall do the following: mulch with new layer (a maximum of 2 inches) of shredded leaves and/or rotten wood shredded to a fine mulch and Dormancy normally occurs around mid-September and is characterized by plant and stem turning yellow, then brown and toppling over.

When growing in a garden fertilizer is not necessary. Just a good top dressing of organic mulch as we have already recommended will do the trick in providing the necessary plant nutrients through organic means. I use earth worm casings to supplement poor growing areas.

If you purchase seedlings 1-2 yr old plants
Know how to grow cyp seedlings

The seedlings, generally with shoots only one or two centimeters long and roots three to five centimeters, arrive sealed in plastic containers or, outside theU.S., in flasks. The seedlings in bags should simply be placed in a refrigerator until spring either in the bag or potted in pots or they can be planted in protected beds. This is especially good for 3 year seedlings. Seedlings in flasks must be removed from the flasks, rinsed in water and picked free of the nutrient agar, sealed in plastic freezer bags with a little water or dampened sphagnum in the bottom, then refrigerated until spring. The refrigeration is essential to enable the plantlets to produce leaves when the temperature rises.

After refrigeration, or for plants received in the spring, great care must be taken to carefully remove the plant from the sphagnum moss without damaging the eye. This caution is essential as a damaged eye may mean the death of the plant. But despite these difficulties I have found sphagnum to have more advantages than disadvantages.

The seedlings may either be planted in an inorganic material such as coir/perlite mixture and may be fed with very dilute fertilizer solutions during the growing season or planted in a soil mix. For most of the North American varieties a humus mix seems to work well The Asian and Montanum Cyps dislike wetness around the stems. We have been using turface; some use granite dust around the top to eliminate this problem. Presently I am using a coir mixture for the main part of my mix for the Asian growers The details of the amount of water, the intensity of lighting, and the temperature requirements vary considerably from one species to another. Cribb’s book on Cyps will give you a guideline here. I am still experimenting with some of the Asian species but have good experience with the American. An instruction sheet for many of the American species is enclosed. I will try to answer any question you may have. I hope to expand the sheet to include more species in the future.

Because our seedlings are small, they require great vigilance by the grower. Our young plants are a nice snack for many a pest! Some growers have built small hardware cloth cages around their plants or put plastic berry boxes over the seedlings for protection from predators. The moisture content of the soil is critical. If the soil is too wet, the plants die from lack of oxygen, but because the roots are so short, the seedlings may die quickly if the upper few centimeters of the soil become dry. The grower must check plants daily or even more often during periods of unusually hot, dry, or wet weather. Cypripedium seedlings can be grown indoors under artificial lights. As for most orchids, growth is slow. Although precocious individuals of some species occasionally flower after one or two seasons of growth, normally three, four, or more years are required to reach flowering size. Growers of tropical orchids are used to such delay.

Seedlings still may be the best way for an experienced gardener to get plants. Most of the unusual Cyps still demand hefty prices as mature plants. A $45.00 investment today can be a $90.00 plant in just 3 to 4 years: a hefty return on your investment! Also, many of the Asian types are presently only available as seedlings.