What's New
September/October 2007
Click on images for larger view. Press "Back" on browser to return.
NEW. Our Fall 2007 Sales List here is still up for the next couple of weeks until the weather turns too cold to ship. Several offerings have been depleted but we still have some nice plants available. Most of the Cyp Gisela and Hank Small, both blooming size and the younger plants, have multiple growth buds for next season, giving them a head start on clumping. We can pick out multi-bud plants for you.
NEW. Fall has arrived and the plants are going to sleep.
A large oak tree that overhangs shade house 1 developed a large crack in its trunk during a recent storm. We have potted the plants that were in it in beds and placed them into shade house 2 to minimize damage should a branch fall while the arborist removes the tree. At the time of our first frost, expected during the third week of October, we will place the pots in the racks under the benches and turn the benches over so that the screen mesh protects the plants during the winter.
We have been working to revitalize a water feature near the house. The main work is complete and we have planted the area with many Cypripedium and other orchids, as well as Hepatica, Trillium, Arisaema, Sanguineria and other woodland favorites. The area behind the bench is currently being planted with a number of native Viburnum, Cleithra and Rhododendron.
Cypripedium acaule is a difficult species to grow in the garden for long periods of time. We produced a number of seedlings from seed and distributed them to several people. Several seedlings planted in pine duff under White pine (Pinus strobus) have done well. This is one of the seedlings. Others have done well growing in pots filled with pine duff.
These are seed pods forming on Calopogon tuberosus. When these plants were in Wilton, in southern Connecticut where no Calopogon grew locally, the flowers were never pollenated. Here in Morris, Calopogon occurs naturally and all of the flowers were pollenated and formed pods. Either the correct pollenators were present or species common to Wilton and Morris knew what to do here where the plant occurs naturally!
