The spring orchid hunting season was very good in 2013. I was lucky enough to see two of the showiest and one of the rarest of the North American orchid species. The gallery is arranged backwards chronologically and begins with a visit to a stunning population of Cypripedium reginae (Showy Lady's-slipper) growing in a Nature Conservancy preserve in Vermont. This species is the favorite of the Cypripediums for many orchid enthusiasts. I can see why! Most of the plants in this population have the deepest red-magenta lips that I have ever seen the "queen" exhibit. Lady Luck handed me perfect photographic conditions in the form of an overcast and windless day with remnant raindrops from an overnight thunderstorm highlighting the orchid blossoms. I visited the site along with Eric Lamont, the co-author of our recently published field guide, "Orchids of New England and New York" (Kollath+Stensaas Publishing) http://www.kollathstensaas.com/book.php?bookID=19 Eric and I also visited another Vermont bog where Phil Keenan - author of "Wild Orchids Across North America" - had found upwards of 2000 showies in the 1990s, but we found less than 100 remaining plants, due to inevitable plant succession. Oh well.

On Memorial Day weekend the Nelson family took a wonderful three day whirlwind trip from our home in NYC down to Virginia. There we met up with Native Orchid Conference member Ellis Squires, who kindly guided us to some choice orchid sites in Lancaster Co., on the Northern Neck Peninsula. Ellis knows of a small population of the very rare Isotria medeoloides (Small Whorled Pogonia) growing in an Audubon Preserve, and even though the plants were in fruit, it was a thrill to see this elusive orchid. Cypripedium kentuckiense (Kentucky Lady's-slipper) the other reigning monarch of the North American Cyps, grows nearby. It was our third time seeing this magnificent orchid and it always leaves us breathless! We couldn't linger to photograph as much as I wanted to as Ellis wanted to show us prime-blooming Aplectrum hyemale (Putty Root orchid) in another preserve. My 14 year old daughter Johanna acted as my back-up photographer and took some good images of the C. kentuckiense to help fill out the gallery as there was no time for me to set up all my photo gear. To see more images of this incredible population of C. kentuckiense view my "Spring Orchids 2009" gallery: https://pbase.com/tomdean/spring_orchids_2009&page=all

This is a very orchid-rich area; Ellis showed us nine species of orchids - not all blooming of course - in one day. Pretty impressive. We also spent time in Virginia's beautiful Shenandoah Nat'l Park, where we revisited orchid sites that we first discovered in 2005 when I was just becoming interested in hunting for native orchids. The Small Southern Yellow Lady's-slipper site there is becoming overgrown and has changed a lot over the past eight years. Nothing stays the same in nature.

The season started in early May with visits to sites for Cypripedium parviflorum var. pubescens (Large Yellow Lady's-slipper) and Cypripedium parviflorum var, makasin (Small Northern Yellow Lady's-slipper) that I monitor in northern New Jersey, blessedly only sixty miles from Manhattan. One site is in Somerset Co., the other two are in Sussex Co. All three sites seem to be thriving this year. At one of the Sussex Co. sites no plants appeared last year due to drought and early heat. I was heartened to see them reappear this year.

Enjoy the images!

Tom