Golden Parade

Cypripedium, the hardy lady's-slipper orchids, belong to the most beautiful plants that can be grown in a garden in regions with winter temperatures dropping significantly below 0 °C, or 32 F. However, they are not easy to grow, in general, and until recently, they have been rather expensive: for a typical, strong nursery raised plant one had to pay about €40-80 (= $50-100 or £30-60), and some enthusiasts even paid up to €900 (= $1150 or £725) for very rare varieties, such as a white flowering Cypripedium reginae, also known as the Queen's Lady's-slipper ...

Today, the situation has changed completely: nurseries in Germany and especially in Belgium and the Netherlands have started to grow many varieties of Cypripedium on a large scale, and now one can buy those gems for only €12-20 (= $15-25 $ or £10-16) here - even at supermarkets! If one has the nerve to wait a little bit, one can purchase them for even half the price - after withering of the flowers.

Not all species are available yet. For instance, the European Lady's-slipper, Cypripedium calceolus, is not among the offered plants, but it is said that at the moment, millions of them are just raised in the nurseries and will be sold in a few years. Hopefully, the times will be over then when the few plants in England or Germany growing in the wild have to be protected, from being dug out, all night and day long during flowering time by conservationists - or even by barb razor wire.

The picture shows Cypripedium parviflorum ssp. pubescens, a species native to North America.