Showy Lady's Slippers at Cedar Bog!

My previously promised series on my time in the Adirondacks of upstate New York are in the works and will be arriving this week.  I just wanted to take this time to get a quick public service announcement out there to all interested parties that the showy lady's slippers (Cypripedium reginae) are nearing peak bloom at Cedar Bog now! I wrote about them in much greater detail last year in a post that can be found right here.   I was too busy to publish the post before/during their flowering period last year and wanted to correct that this time around!

Showy Lady's Slipper Orchid - Cypripedium reginae)

If you've never seen these beauties in person before, I couldn't recommend some time spent with them more.  It's worth the drive from any corner of Ohio to see our largest and arguably "showiest" orchid in perfect bloom.  Your blogger was there earlier last week to do a census count on the population; something that had apparently never been done and I was more than happy to take the time to do so.  The final count was almost 500 flowering plants.  That's almost 500 gorgeous reasons to get in your car and make the drive to Cedar Bog sometime this week.  There's plenty more to see than just these so make sure to walk all around the boardwalk trail and see what other fascinating plants and habitats it has in store.

Just please be sure to remain on the boardwalk at all times; each year it seems to get worse with trampled "livestock" paths off the boardwalk to the best clumps of these orchids.  These rare plants take up to a decade or more to reach flowering maturing and can live for decades more as they grow into larger, double-flowered specimens.  No one wants to see all that time and potential lost because of our own over-eager attempts to see them closer and more personally.  So if you have telephoto lenses or good zooms on your camera utilize them and not your feet!

Cedar Bog is located near Urbana, Ohio in Champaign county.  You can check out their website for directions and more information here: http://www.cedarbognp.org/.

Shoreline Fens of the Bruce Peninsula

I wonder if it's perhaps time to start rethinking the name of this blog.  With the amount of out-of-state traveling and botanizing I do throughout the surrounding states and regions, I feel like it has as much to do with the natural treasures of those places as it does with home sweet Ohio.  I'm only thinking out loud and have no real intentions of tackling the matter but it does stand to reason this blog is much more than just the fine buckeye state!  Recent times have seen focus on some of those extended forays; such as upstate New York and the southern Adirondacks, as well as the cranberry glades of West Virginia.  All were quite tardy and well past due but still worth the time to produce and share.  That being said, your blogger has decided to keep with that theme and travel back in time even further to catch up on some old business!  What better way to waste away the last days of winter with some warming tales of summers past?

A couple years ago during the summer of 2011 found myself wandering the botanical and geological masterpiece that is the Bruce peninsula in Ontario, Canada.  I began to weigh in on my travels and findings a ways back but lost track and it unfortunately got lost in the shuffle.  I'd like to dive back in and finish up my tales of the Bruce before spring fully awakens and my blogging switches back to more relevant topics.

Large shoreline fen complexes the Bruce peninsula is widely known for

One of the most spectacular aspects to this limestone derived slab of the Niagara escarpment are its huge expanses of shoreline fen complexes.  Unlike the small, isolated fens that pocket west-central and northeast Ohio, these graminoid dominated ecosystems stretch on as far as the eye can see in some places and are hundreds of acres in size.  Lake Huron's adjacent nippy waters play a direct role in the hydrology of these fens and keep their soils saturated and thriving with spike rushes (Eleocharis spp.), sedges (Carex spp.), and other fascinating flora characteristic of this habitat-type.  Areas of the Bruce such as Dorcas Bay, Petrel Point, Oliphant, and Red Bay claim prime examples of these shoreline wetlands and their associating plants; some of which are exhibited below.

Northern Pitcher Plant (Sarracenia purpurea)

My mid-June visit happened to coincide with the en masse blooming of the fen's most noticeable occupant: the northern pitcher plant.  Literally thousands of its large, blood-red flowers were suspended over the stunted pitchers growing below in the nutrient-poor and mucky soil.  The wetland almost seemed to suffer from an aggressive case of the chickenpox due to the mass-flowering of pitcher plants.

N. Pitcher Plant (Sarracenia purpurea)

N. Pitcher Plant (Sarracenia purpurea)

The chilled, water saturated muck and marl soil of fens rarely hold any appreciable amount of nutrients (most specifically nitrogen) and require some plants to find ulterior methods for fulfilling their nutritional needs.  For the pitcher plants, sundews (Drosera spp.), and bladderworts (Utricularia spp.) that grow and persist in these fens, that other tactic is being insectivorous.

Linear-leaved Sundew (Drosera linearis)

Linear-leaved sundew's (Drosera linearis) glistening, enticing leaves intermingled with the pitcher plants across the swathe of fen and established an intimidating web of death for any winged insect.  Upon capture through a plant's own unique practices, the insects are broken down by the plant's natural enzymes and converted into a usuable form and ingested.  Speaking from experience itself, I don't see how these plants could ever go hungry with the unlimited number of mosquitoes, midges, and biting flies etc. that abound.

Fen orchid (Liparis loeselii)

Fen orchid (Liparis loeselii)

Naturally, my main draw to the Bruce was its famous flora and most specifically its orchid diversity.  At the conclusion of my week spent there, I found no less than 20 species of orchid at one stage of its seasonal life cycle or another.  One of the most exciting of orchid discoveries occurred while scanning the drier hummocks of Oliphant fen for anything unusual.  The appropriately named fen orchid or Loesel's twayblade (Liparis loeselii) may pale in comparison to the physique of the forthcoming orchids in this post but their intricate lime-green flowers don't fail to impress.

Large expanse of shoreline fen on the Bruce peninsula

Gazing out across the open meadows allows your mind to soak in the details and impressive size of the Bruce's shoreline fens.  Come July these wetlands come alive with a pink/purple sea of rose pogonia (Pogonia ophioglossoides) and grass pink (Calopogon tuberosus) orchids that would make even the least botanically-interested stop and take notice.

Cotton Grass (Eriophorum viridicarinatum)

Cotton Grass (Eriophorum viridicarinatum)

My visit was a few weeks too early for the orchid fireworks show and I was instead greeted with the conspicuous fruiting stalks of cotton grass (Eriophorum viridicarinatum) gently weaving in the cool breezes off Lake Huron.

Labrador tea (Ledum groenlandicum)

Labrador tea (Ledum groenlandicum)

Another strikingly white and easily discernible plant showing off its seasonal charm throughout the fens was Labrador tea (Ledum groenlandicum).  This was a huge get for your blogger and provided a very satisfying opportunity to photograph and mark off another predominant life species; not to mention finally experience the spicy and refreshing aroma of its crushed foliage.

Shrubby, wooded borders of the fen complexes

Surrounding the large fen complexes were cool, mossy coniferous swamp forests comprised of white cedar (Thuja occidentalis), balsam-fir (Abies balsamea), tamarack (Larix laricina), and black spruce (Picea mariana) that allowed for even more fascinating plant life to mesh at their margins.

Showy Lady's Slippers (Cypripedium reginae)

The most exciting of those plants utilizing the forested margins of the fen meadows was easily the showy lady's slippers (Cypripedium reginae).  I was lucky enough to feel the adrenaline of coming across a flowering clump of these majestic orchids twice during my stay on the Bruce.

Showy Lady's Slippers (C. reginae)

Showy Lady's Slippers (C. reginae)

I'd seen this species many times before back home in Ohio but the chance encounters here were not taken for granted and still sit high on my list of most exciting and appreciable finds.  The contrasting pink and white of their remarkable flowers is set perfectly against the vivid greens of the cedars and surrounding vegetation; it's hard to think they could ever really hide from anyone with such a loud display.

Sage-leaved Willow (Salix candida)

Shining Willow (Salix lucida)

It's not only the fen's herbaceous plant life that is endlessly diverse and intriguing but its woody plant compositions and associations as well.  While walking through a shrubbier section of the Dorcas Bay complex I came across many species of willow (Salix spp.) either already in fruit or just breaking bud.  One of the most noticeable was the accurately named sage-leaved willow (S. candida) with its silver-green foliage reminiscent of the western state's sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) plant.  Another shrubby willow in the fen's thickets and borders was the shining willow (S. lucida) just coming into flower.  The above photo on the right exhibits the shining willow's golden staminate flowers.

Wet area of the sedge meadow full of bladderwort (Utricularia spp.) flowers

In the soupier, more saturated parts of the fens grew a host of weird and unusual plants, including another of the Bruce's numerous carnivorous species.  The speckling of yellow flowers in the water-logged area above belong to the flat-leaved bladderwort (Utricularia intermedia).  The bladderwort's "roots" have a series of bladders that pull in water and its accompanying tiny invertebrates to digest and break down in a similar fashion to the aforementioned sundews and pitcher plants.

Tall White Bog Orchid (Platanthera dilatata)

Just beginning to break bud among the bladderworts was a species of orchid I had never laid eyes on before and was pleasantly surprised to find in flower.  Tall white bog orchid (Platanthera dilatata) has been found and recorded in Ohio's northern surrounding states but never Ohio itself, despite some habitat existing during pre-settlement times.

Tall White Bog Orchid (P. dilatata)

Tall White Bog Orchid (P. dilatata)

Also known as white bog candles, this orchid ranges clear across the continent in its northern boreal habitat and additionally in the higher elevations of the mountain west.  Throughout its range taxonomists have separated it into three varieties depending on the size comparisons between the inflorescence's spur and lip.  Here on the Bruce and the rest of the eastern half of the continent only the typical variety (P. dilatata var. dilatata) occurs.

Buckbean (Menyanthes trifoliata) in fruit

Small Cranberry (Vaccinium oxycoccos)

Not all is fair in botany though; the success of a find is often followed by the sting of defeat.  I had hopes of seeing a major lifer, the buckbean (Menyanthes trifoliata) in flower but as it turned out the sole time I came across some the flowers were long gone and the fruits swelling with maturity.  I'll just have to return earlier in the season to catch their sensational flowers scattered throughout the wet meadows.  Certainly something you wouldn't have to pull my hair to get me to do!  On the opposite side of the flowering spectrum the small cranberries (Vaccinium oxycoccos) were just beginning to get going and carpeted small areas of the fens with their reddish-white, nodding blossoms.

Northern Leopard Frog

My time spent on the Bruce may be approaching two years in the past but I still often times find myself reminiscing on my experiences and discoveries with aspirations of returning sooner than later.  I've been fortunate to have done quite a bit of traveling across our continent in my life thus far and while many places are worth remembering, it's spots like the Bruce peninsula that you leave a piece of year heart behind upon your return home.  There is still plenty to share on the Bruce's wonders and I hope to get to them.  No matter how delayed they may be, their song deserves to be sung for all to hear.

100th Post: Taking a Look Back

100 published posts.  That's hard to believe for someone who started this blog from humble beginnings and had no clear idea of what to expect or how long it would last.  I'm just a geeky, nature-loving nerd who had a desire to begin sharing his experiences and limited knowledge of the botanical and natural world with anyone bored enough to pay attention.  Never in a hundred years did I think I would be so fortunate and lucky to have the following and community this blog has and is a part of.  The doors this blog has opened, the friendships it has kindled, and the never-ending inspiration it's been to me are things I could have never expected or predicted.  I cannot thank all my readers enough for your support and kind words over the past two and a half years; whether you are the occasional passerby or one of the faithful few who tunes in to each new post. Without your interest and encouragement I'm sure this blog would have folded and disappeared into internet anonymity long ago.

I know this blog waxes and wanes like the moon when it comes to new posts.  There is never a shortage of ideas, topics, treatments etc. to write and share but the free time and energy to do so fluctuates greatly.  It can be related to a small part-time job whose only compensation is comments, page views, and emails.  There's little guarantee all those long hours of creative writing and carefully planned words will even be read.  Your blogger certainly isn't selfless in his blogging though.  I do this for many personal reasons with none being more prevalent than treating this like a journal.  I thoroughly enjoy going back and rereading old posts and topics that I forgot I wrote about.  Re-experiencing those days in the field and the exciting discoveries and chance encounters remind me why I take the time to write and keep this blog running.  I hope to continue this new year's current trend of consistent posting and new publications but would be a fool to make any promises. That being said I can promise to give it a legitimate effort and try!  I hope to continue to bring my faithful readers more and more original and engaging posts for as long as I have the fire burning inside me to do so!

I'd like to continue with the theme of reminiscing for this 100th post and count down (in no particular order) ten of my favorite posts and topics from the past.  Each one was a blast to write up and put together and are something I can fondly look back on.  Each photograph is accompanied with a link to the corresponding blog post for those interested!  So without further ado here they are:

Federally threatened prairie fringed orchid (Platanthera leucophaea)

It's only appropriate I start off with my favorite of all our native orchids: the eastern prairie fringed orchid (Platanthera leucophaea).  This great rarity is so scarce across its range it's been listed as a federally threatened species and is at continued risk of extinction from habitat loss and alteration.  I finally got to see this spectacular plant in bloom a few summers ago and it was an experience I will never forget.

On the limestone alvar shores of the Bruce peninsula, Ontario

A couple summers past saw your blogger visit a small spit of limestone known as the Bruce peninsula in Ontario, Canada.  This fascinating landscape is home to many rare species of plants and widely known for its picturesque rocky shores and sheer cliffs along the brilliant aqua waters of Lake Huron and the Georgian Bay. If you look carefully in the foreground of the photo above you can make out tiny yellow patches of the globally rare lakeside daisy (Tetraneuris herbacea) growing in the cracks of the alvar limestone pavement.

Grove of old-growth tuliptrees in Davey Woods nature preserve

Few other ecosystems amaze and excite like those of old-growth forests.  The ancient, leviathan trees stand testament to what mother nature can do when time and opportunity is on her side.  This particular photo is of your blogger's father standing in an exceptional grove of tuliptrees in Davey Woods nature preserve in west-central Ohio.  Another exciting example of an old-growth woods featured on this blog is the unique sweetgum/beech flatwoods of Tribbett Woods nature preserve in southeastern Indiana.

Stunning rosebud orchid (Cleistes bifaria) in southern Kentucky

I could just as easily make this entire blog devoted to my orchid forays and endeavors.  It seems like every other post is dedicated to their complex beauty and intriguing life histories.  The rosebud orchid (Cleistes bifaria) was another long-awaited life species I finally got to mark off in southern Kentucky.  I find it to be one of the most tropical looking of our continent's indigenous orchid taxa and just too stunning for words.

Red-tailed Hawk patiently waiting for its next meal

Some of the best and most rewarding of moments in nature are those you come across by complete chance. While out for a drive through the countryside of my home area of Ohio, I stumbled upon a gorgeous red-tailed hawk in the midst of hunting.  I pulled off the side of the road and proceeded to watch him successfully catch and eat a couple mice from his wooden perch.  They are such majestic creatures who live out their lives without even a passing thought from most people too busy to pay attention.

The timeless showy lady's slippers (Cypripedium reginae) of Cedar Bog

Ah, no orchid freak's life list would be complete without the timeless splendor of Cedar Bog's showy lady's slipper (Cypripedium reginae) display come June.  The largest of our native orchids and arguably the showiest (pun intended), these floral wonders need no introduction and can certainly speak for themselves.  If you've never caught them in bloom before you must mark down early June on your calendars for 2013!

Lesser fringed gentians (Gentianopsis virgata) of Betsch Fen

There's no better way to close out the growing season each autumn than to witness the electric blue display of the lesser fringed gentians (Gentianopsis virgata) in Betsch Fen.  It has become an annual pilgrimage for this botanist to close out another exciting and successful year of botanizing with their unbeatable exhibition.  This past season was exceptionally spectacular and choked the fen with hundreds of gentians in full bloom under the waning sun.

Famous dunes of the Sleeping Bear Dunes national lakeshore

Few other places are as heavenly and ingrained in my memory as northern Michigan during the summer months. From South Manitou Island and its virgin grove of enormous white cedars (Thuja occidentalis), to the federally endangered Michigan monkeyflower (Mimulus michiganensis) that exists nowhere else on the planet; the flora and sights of this area are nigh on unbeatable.  If you've never experienced Sleeping Bear Dunes national lakeshore you really must add it to your list of must-visit places!  You will not be disappointed.

Calm waters of Pyramid Lake in the mountains of the southern Adirondacks in upstate New York

The Adirondacks of upstate New York.  Hands down one of the most gorgeous and incredible places I have ever laid eyes on and a time and experience I will never, ever forget.  If you haven't checked out the three part series from this past July on the flora and landscape of the area, you can find them here: Part I, Part II, and Part III.

Stunningly tiny small white lady's slippers (Cypripedium candidum)

It's only appropriate to end with an orchid after starting out with one!  Another of my absolute favorites are the diminutive blooms of the small white lady's slippers (Cypripedium candidum).  I will never forget my shocked expression upon seeing these beauties for the first time; they are beyond tiny!  If you are wise and lucky enough to attend Flora-Quest this spring you may just get to see these wonders in person.

I would like to close with another sincere thank you to all the readers and followers who have kept this blog alive and the passion within me to keep it going.  It hasn't always been easy or the top priority but without you I can't say I would be in the same place and shoes I'm in today.  This blog has been an amazing resource and I have all you to thank!  So here's to another 100+ posts on the Natural Treasures of Ohio and beyond!

The Showy Lady's Slippers of Cedar Bog

Cedar Bog.  Few places in the Midwest, let alone Ohio, have as much botanical wonder, biodiversity, and history stored inside than the white cedar swamp forests, fen sedge meadows, and tall grass prairie habitat here.  Owned and operated by the Ohio Historical Society since 1942, it was the first Ohio nature preserve to be purchased with state monies and is on the national natural landmarks register to boot.  Located in south-central Champagin county, Cedar Bog currently preserves well over 400 acres of original habitat and is home to nearly 100 rare species of flora and fauna.  It's a good thing this gem was saved and preserved because Ohio's intact, naturally-occurring wetlands are a very rare thing today.  Around 90% of Ohio's wetlands no longer exist and are gone forever. From over 5,000,000 acres pre-settlement to just a tiny fraction of that in under 300 years is depressing but that's what makes places like Cedar Bog so precious and vital to our biodiversity.  If you want a fact to really drive the nail home on our wetland habitat loss: California is the only state that has lost a larger percentage of its original wetlands than Ohio.  Click this link here for more on the matter.

Don't be fooled by the name however.  Cedar Bog is not a bog but in fact a fen.  What's the difference?  Bogs are non-flowing acidic environments associated with accumulated masses of sphagnum moss while fens have internal flowing groundwater that seeps to the surface and is usually rich in magnesium and calcium, making for a neutral to alkaline environment.  Just remember "fens flow"!

View out across the fen sedge meadow of Cedar Bog

When the early pioneers first started to settle the Mad River valley they found countless tracts of wet, marly fields and meadows full of mosquitoes and curious plants that didn't make for good farm land.  Quickly and with prejudice, the land was drained and transformed to support their agricultural ways while the natural landscape slipped into memory.  The 450+ acres Cedar Bog currently preserves was once a fen complex over 7,000 acres in size.  Imagine 7,000 acres of pristine fen habitat choked full of fascinating flora, massasauga rattlesnakes, spotted turtles, swamp metalmarks, and indigenous brook trout.  I can't fault the settlers for their lack of foresight or preservation but what a sight that must have been.

The Mad River valley was host to a seemingly infinite supply of fen complexes and wetland habitat pre-settlement that served as a reminder to the area's icy past.  Over 12,000 years ago as the Wisconsin glacier receded to the north it left behind a barren landscape of melted ice, glacial till, and boreal plant species from the northern climates.  The previous period's ancient river valleys were filled with gravel and saturated with melt water, which today comprises west-central Ohio's natural aquifers.  In spots where this cold, calcareous groundwater percolates and bubbles to the surface is where these incredible fen communities persisted for thousands of years after the glaciers left, leaving behind the plants and animals you won't see anywhere else in the state today.

Mature male Five-lined Skink (Eumeces fasciatus) on the boardwalk.

Okay, enough of the history lesson even if I could go on and on.  Fens and their histories and biological communities fascinate me to no end and I could blab about them forever!  Now on to the main event and that magical word 'orchid' in the title that probably nabbed your attention.  But not before I share a quick tidbit about one of Cedar Bog's most frequently seen animals.  Pictured above is a critter I'm willing to guarantee just about everyone sees on their stroll down the boardwalk.  Five-lined skinks love to sun themselves on the warm wood and then go scurrying off as your footsteps approach.  Good luck trying to catch one, these guys move like lightning!  Juveniles start off black with five yellowish lines down their backs and tails of the most gorgeous electric blue you've ever seen.  The specimen above is a mature male with its copper-colored body and red face.

Orchids, orchids...I know, I know.  So without testing your patience any further I give you North America's largest terrestrial species of orchid.  An orchid that stole my heart many years ago along these very same creaky boardwalk planks and has yet to release me from its grasp.

Showy Lady's Slipper (Cypripedium reginae)

Scattered along the margins of the northern white cedar (Thuja occidentalis) of which Cedar Bog gets its name, lies one of the greatest botanical shows Ohio puts on each early June.  The showy lady's slipper (Cypripedium reginae) is the largest and last of the slipper orchids to bloom and mother nature certainly knows how to save the best for last.

An 'eat your heart out' clump of Showy Lady's Slippers (Cypripedium reginae)

This is my sixth year in a row heading to Cedar Bog to see the performance and what a spectacle they've been this time around.  While my run isn't nearly what many other local residents, botanists and orchid-lovers have going, I can say this has been the greatest year I've seen them put on in my experience and a number of  other long-time fans are voicing their agreement.  Just look at that clump above!  Nearly two dozen plants all clustered together and topping out over three feet tall under the partial shade of the cedars is a site no one is likely to forget anytime soon.

Showy Lady's Slipper (Cypripedium reginae)

Each flower's pouch or 'labellum' is about the size of a golf ball and delicately painted the most perfect shade of pastel pink to be found in nature.  Depending on what I assume to be a matter of sunlight, the labellum's pigmentation can vary greatly from soft and pale to intense and deeply saturated.  Another common name for these is the queen lady's slipper.  As the binomial nomenclature would have it, the scientific or botanical name for this species is very fitting.  The scientific epithet of reginae translates to 'queen', implicating the regal and majestic beauty of this orchid.  The lady's slippers genus name was conceived from the combination of the Greek word Kypris (for Cypris, the goddess of beauty and love) and the Latin word pedis  (meaning 'foot') as told by Michael Homoya is his brilliant book The Orchids of Indiana.

Showy Lady's Slipper (Cypripedium reginae) 

Taking a closer look at the inflorescence or 'slipper' of the showy ladies just magnifies their stimulating appeal.  I was happy to have coincidentally timed my visit on an overcast day right after a rain shower had passed through, giving all the slippers an aesthetically pleasing coating of water droplets.  Unfortunately their beauty is not lost on those who seek to remove them from their rightful homes.  Ignoring the heavy loss they have endured from habitat loss due to succession and destruction, these royal plants have long fought the hands and shovels of mankind.  The floral trade, ignorant digging for wildflower gardens and careless picking has removed these plants to the point of extirpation and extinction of populations throughout much of its range.  Even the botanist is to blame in some situations where avid over-collecting depleted their numbers to nothing.  This is one of the those plants that is best touched with our eyes only, despite the human urge to take the beauty home with us.

North American distribution of Cypripedium reginae (courtesty BONAP)

Looking at the distribution map for this species shows how strong an association it has with the northern Canadian provinces and Great Lakes region.  The further south you slip away from the lakes the more rare it becomes due to an increased lack of habitat availability.  Their preferred habitat of fens, northern swamp woods and glacial depressions aren't found further south than Ohio, hence their increase in frequency the further north you go.  Populations in the south, such as in the Appalachians, grow in circumneutral seeps in limestone regions where plants are few in number and locations.  The one vitally important thing an environment must support regardless of geographical location is what's called "cold-bottom" conditions.  These conditions exist when groundwater reaches the surface and saturates the soil to create a constant supply of cold water that this plant needs to survive.  This in turn allows these plants to exist and survive in more southern latitudes whose normal conditions would not otherwise support them.  In many cases where these plants have disappeared despite not much disturbance to the habitat is the result of a change in the hydrology.  It's not just the surface you have to worry about but what's going on underneath as well to keep these orchids happy and alive.

Showy Lady's Slipper (Cypripedium reginae)

An interesting piece of information about this particular species that will probably engage my entomologist readers and friends most is that the showy lady's slipper is apparently the only eastern Cpypripedium that is largely pollinated by flies and beetles rather than bees.  In any case, the insects are attracted inside the labellum by the promise of a nectar meal but are quickly disappointed to find it's a sham and they are forced to retreat back out the way they came.  Upon their exiting they (hopefully) pick up a package of pollen (pollinia in orchid-speak) from the column (the unique orchid organ comprised of fused stamens and pistil) and in a case of instant memory-loss, enter a new labellum in search for that mythical nectar and we have pollination!

Showy Lady's Slipper (Cypripedium reginae)

There truly are few other plants that I can sit in front of and admire their timeless grandeur for what seems like hours on end.  It's not everyday one sits in front of royalty like this and can have such close interaction with them.  A warning must be issued though to all who suffer with frequent bouts of skin irritation and dermatitis.  The dense pubescence of the leaves, stem and pedicels can cause a severe case of dermatitis much like that of poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) to those susceptible.

The incredibly early start to this year affected these plants much like the rest and saw the showy lady's slippers start blooming in late May, something I'd never seen before.  The intense heat of last week hastened the freshness of the blooms this year and the show has already passed when under normal circumstances would just be starting.  Be sure to mark late May and early June on your calender for 2013 to see these wondrous plants in action.  Don't fear, there are still many more orchid wonders Cedar Bog has in store for the future and I will be here to bring them to you when they happen!