I suppose there are a lot of these around, if you know where to look! I have grown them in my garden, but they gradually decline. The only one I keep now is the yellow one. They are true wild orchids, not abundant, and fastidious in the ground they will grow in. There are secret plants close to our cabin, but these are on a Minnesota Bike Path.
The Showy Lady's Slipper is the Minnesota State Flower, and is protected. There are nurseries that sell these orchids legally, but you will have to find that out for yourself...like I did.
Finding them in the wild is a treasure hunt, because when not in flower, the plant blends in with the green growth, and is not particularly distinctive. Lady's Slippers usually are at their peak bloom in Minnesota on Father's Day. If you want to download the pictures, my virtual directory has tons of high quality pictures of them . Maybe you want some for the book you are writing, or just a large picture for your room. Okay, so I threw in a couple of wild bog irises.
The ones I know the best are along a remote bicycle path. I won't tell you where it is, but you can figure it out from the photographs, if you really try.
As I shot the pictures, people were gliding right by them on roller blades, bicycles, and even walking. I find most people are oblivious to their surroundings, which is good for these Showy Lady's Slippers.
Enjoy! Remember, these are Large (1 Meg plus) high quality digital picture files, even with jpg.
Some examples. Slide the cursor over the thumbnail for a caption. Click on it to open a LARGE jpg.
Virtual Directory of Showy Lady's Slipper With Big Files
