Inspired by the discovery of the dried Helleborine in the cedar grove, I did some poking about yesterday for info on wild orchids in Ontario. According to the Orchid Society of the Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington, Ontario, there are 62 species of orchid that have been recorded in the province. They give the current population status of each species, indicating whether it is secure or at risk, or introduced. Three species fall into this latter category, and an additional one is found only accidentally, with no known established populations. That leaves 58 that are found regularly in the province. Some 38 of those have secure populations, and the other 20 are either sensitive or at risk.
Yellow Lady’s-slipper, Cypripedium parviflorum, falls into the first category. It’s one of the most widespread of Ontario’s orchids, growing in a variety of habitats. There are four subspecies, which look similar but are largely divisible by habitat. This one was one of several found growing on the man-made spit of land that projects into Lake Ontario from the Toronto shoreline. The landform, or at least the bit where these plants were, is only about 30 years old. The spit has never, to my knowledge, undergone planting programs, and the orchids would have arrived under their own mysterious power.
Another common species is this one, Pink Lady’s-slipper, Cypripedium acaule . They grow in acidic soil, commonly in the boreal forest but also in forests further south. It favours boggy areas but is happy to grow anywhere the soil conditions are met. Dan and I found quite a number in our Rock Ridge MAPS area at Frontenac Provincial Park at the end of May this year. They bloom through early July.
When we first spotted the Pink Lady’s-slipper, I just assumed it was a Showy Lady’s-slipper, Cypripedium reginae, another relatively common species in Ontario. I didn’t give it much thought that it might be otherwise, and I didn’t bother to look it up later. I’ve never seen a Showy and it had been a while since I’d seen a photo; I expected it to be brighter, but wrote it off as the flower just being past its best.
Just north of here is Purdon Conservation Area, which includes Purdon Fen. This area contains some 16,000 individuals of Showy Lady’s-slipper, the largest known population of the species. My mom went up to see them this past spring and posted about it on her blog.
Looking at them side-by-side it’s hard to believe I mistook one for the other now. For one thing, the big cleft down the centre of the pouch on the Pink should be a big giveaway. The three lady’s-slippers shown above are the most common in Ontario, but there are an additional three that can be found in the province. The Bruce Peninsula, separating Georgian Bay from Lake Huron, is one of Ontario’s hotspots for orchids. Every year the Friends Of Bruce District Parks holds the Bruce Peninsula Orchid Festival in celebration of these beautiful flowers, where attendees can learn more and have the opportunity to see a wide variety of species. The Bruce is home to an amazing 44 species of wild orchid.
I’ve personally only seen a small handful of species. Perhaps I’ve seen more than I think I have, but not realized they’re orchids. Only a portion of orchids actually have the big, flashy flowers we tend to associate with the group. In fact, many more are more subdued, or smaller in size. This Rose Pogonia, Pogonia ophioglossoides, was found growing beside the water at Rock Ridge in the summer. I didn’t recognize it as an orchid at first, since its flowers and leaves were smaller than I typically think of. Now that I know what it is, I can see the similarities.
The Helleborine I mentioned yesterday are a non-native species, one of three in Ontario, and if their abundance on our property is any indication, they’re doing pretty well. They probably started out as garden plants, introduced more than a century ago. Having recently taken an interest in indoor orchids, I wondered if it would be possible to dig some of these up and cultivate them indoors. Since they’re non-native anyway, any possible negative consequences to the population would not be a problem (except, perhaps, in terms of my own aesthetic appreciation of them outdoors).
That question led to wondering if it was possible to purchase native orchids for your garden. I know that, aside from damaging wild populations when collecting from the wild, most orchids don’t survive the transplant to a garden environment. Some, like the Pink Lady’s-slipper, have spreading root systems that may be more than two metres/yards in diameter, making it impossible to get the entire plant. Often the plant doesn’t survive the severe reduction in root mass. If you’re the patient sort, it may be possible to collect a seed pod and try growing your own from seed, but orchids are very long-lived plants, sometimes lasting on the order of decades, and as such it may take an orchid like the Pink Lady’s-slipper 10-16 years to grow from seed to blooming size.
Even just collecting the seeds has the potential to impact the wild population, as those seeds then don’t get a chance to germinate in the wild (regardless of whether or not they actually would have). Really, the best way to acquire orchids of your own is to purchase them from captive-bred populations raised at a reputable nursery. The Yellow Lady’s-slipper is not too hard to find, particularly at native plant nurseries, such as the Native Plant Source in Kitchener, Ontario.
However, some digging around online turned up a few links, including Fraser’s Thimble Farms on Salt Spring Island in British Columbia. This nursery specializes in rare and unusual flowers, many of them native. They have a whole page dedicated to cold-hardy ground orchids that will survive in Canada’s northern climate.
Another Canadian source is Planteck Biotechnologies in Quebec. They have a similar selection of species as Fraser’s Thimble Farms, not all of them native, but also list the genera Calypso and Calopogon. The above flower is Calypso bulbosa, a species native to Canada and our area; this particular individual was photographed on Manitoulin Island here in Ontario.
The Washington Native Orchid Society provides a list of additional retailers, a dozen or so, mostly American. The photo above is from the website of Raising Rarities in Toledo, Ohio. They specialize mostly in lady’s-slippers, which are the most popular group at many of the nurseries, including both Fraser’s and Planteck above. Imagine this sight greeting you in the garden each dew-filled summer morning!
As an aside, I love that frosted fern in the foreground. My mom has a bunch of these growing in her new gardens, I must remember to ask for some in the spring.
seabrookeleckie.com 