Lady Slippers Move In.

6-28-16 VERMONT: Melissa brought us two clusters of lady’s slippers, three stalks of yellow ones, Cypripedium pariflorum, and five stalks of showy lady slippers, Cypripedium reginae. These are the two varieties that we commonly see here in Zone 4. Melissa’s are all purchased from nurseries and not taken from the wild, which is a no-no. She has been very successful at getting them to thrive and spread in her garden.

I dug two ‘bathtubs’ on the edge of the pond and filled them with a mix of compost, chopped, decomposed leaves, some wood ashes and some peat moss and planted them in what are sunny spots. They prefer shade except in the northern parts of their range where we are. These two like a neutral pH, while others prefer an alkaline media. The yellow ones came with more roots and look better already. The showy variety will need more frequent watering.

New blooms: daylily, summersweet shrub.


First native daylily, some hybrid dallies have been open earlier. These native dayllies start at he beginning of July and last all month.

Valerian is a biennial herb with a pungent sweet aroma. If you're working around them for a while it's a little intoxicating. It's happy in the shade.

Goat's beard is another shade lover. I don't get the name.

Peony. This one is our only 'single'.

Campanula is a reliable perennial and slowly spreads in it's neighborhood.