So a co-worker, Jay, asked me to email a picture I had recently taken of a Yellow Lady's Slipper in Shenandoah National
Park (SNP) to a friend of his, Judith. I did and Judith thanked me and asked if I knew anything about transplanting
Yellow Lady's Slippers. She had some on her property in a hazardous area, near her property boundary.
Judith also mentioned that she had not seen a Pink Lady's Slipper for years. So I searched back in my
digital images and found an image of one and emailed that to her. Then I started looking through the cyberworld
for info on transplanting. Honestly, I am not a farmer, or a gardener for that matter.
The info I found on the internet was conflicting. "They are easy to move." -- "They are hard to move."
-- "They take seven years from seed to maturity" -- "They have a symbiotic dependance on another life form at the roots
that helps the lady's slipper gather water from the soil." -- "They live a few years after being transplanted then die
off." -- "In some states, they are protected and can not be dug up." -- "It is ok on private land if the owner
agrees." -- "If the habitat, soil, sunlight, drainage, etc, are not just right, the transplant fails."
I learned that three varieties of Lady's Slippers exist in SNP and have different characteristics:
- The Small Yellow Lady's Slippers, grows in clumps with smaller blossoms.
- The Large Yellow Lady's Slippers grows on single stalks with one or two blossoms on each, but space between stalks.
- The Pink Lady's Slippers have one blossom on a single stalk.
I give up getting an answer about transplanting. Judith, talk to a horticulturalist.
Meanwhile, I remembered other photos I have taken of the beautifull wildflowers in Shenandoah National Park. So
here are my photos of all three varieties.
Photo by Bob Kuhns
