cypripedium

[ellenndan]

Hi there just wondering if anyone has any Cypripedium for swap or sale, or know of any good suppliers of young Cypripedium.

Thanks Ellen and Dan

[Anthony Darby]

Try: Cyps Direct (Peter Corkhill)
“Hazelwood”, New Barns Rd,
ARNSIDE, Carnforth, Lancs.  LA5  0BH
 01524 761567       email:  p.corkhill@daelnet.co.uk

[ellenndan]

Thanks for the info, they are not far from me.

[KentGardener]

Hi Dan

I have ordered from Orchis nursery before (my records say £16 for Emil).

Richard Manuel
Orchis Nursery
Wye View Cottage
Leys Hill
Ross-on-Wye
Herefordshire
HR9 5QU

regards

John

[KentGardener]

Me Again

been going through my old catalogues - heres another couple.

Big List of Cyps (but cheapest is £25! - I have never ordered from them but they had 34 different cyp plants listed last year):
Hardy Orchids
Pitcot Lane
Owslebury
Winchester
SO21 1LR
www.hardyorchids.co.uk

Small list (but at better prices!  £12 cheapest):
Laneside Alpines & Hardy Orchids
office:  74 Croston Road
Garstang
Preston
PR3 1HR
Nursery: Bells Bridge Lane
off Cockerham Road
Garstang

One last thought - I have purchased a couple of very young ones from ebay from less than a fiver in the past.

Hope these help.

cheers

John

[Anthony Darby]

Lanesides alpines looks good (http://lanesidealpines.com/)

[Joakim B]

John
Size does matter  

Cyps have a tendency to double in price every growth year. So mature are more expensive than seedlings, but since they were asking for seedlings the cheaper the better.
There is a Belgium wholesale company that sells Cyp seedlings for 2-4€ with aa minimum of 40 or 50. Especially some sorts are very nice prices since they are one year in soil. This is more for some garden club to order some, or sometimes they are sold of on ebay.
I have bought from them and the p and p is a bit expensive since they use DHL (or similar) 40€ or so. I got plenty more than what I have ordered but the size was not that big so when they count a year in soil it may vary for how long depending on when during the year one buy.
The place is http://www.phytesia.com
I saw that they have started with selling flask 40€ for 8-10 plants.
Also there is an other Belgium company that also sell cyps and hardy orchids.
It is crustacare
http://www.crustacare.be/Plants/HomepagePlantsEnglish.html
I bought some  mature datcylorhiza majalis for 5€ and others for 10€ but no cyps.
There are a lot of seedling sources and the advantage is that they are never wild collected.

Enjoy the pages they have nice pics both sites

Kind regards
Joakim

[Joakim B]

If you are into hybrids
Werener frosch have a sale in february.
You need to closly watch the page since they are gone in hours. It is often new things that are not available elsewhwer.
The prize was 2€ and p and 8-9€.
I have bought several times and are happy with it.
I am not allowed to buy any this year so I can give you that hint.
http://www.w-frosch.onlinehome.de/Angebot/aaa_e.htm
His webpage is the best for cyps!

Enjoy
Joakim

[ellenndan]

Thanks to everyone for there help. I have bought quite a bit off Jeff at laneside alpines all very good size. Also bought some of ebay from germany. I will take a look at the web sites you have recomended.

[KentGardener]

Excellent Dan, it is always good to know that the SRGC collective knowledge has been assimilated and of help once again.

cheers

John

[Anthony Darby]

Over the last week or so I've been checking my cyps. I know you shouldn't poke about, but if you are very careful it pays off. In garden grown plants winter wet is a killer, but if you have plenty of rain throughout the year a very free draining medium works. In drier areas this could be a problem as the roots must never dy out. My garden soil has a lot of clay and worms can drag this into the roots, or worse, the crown of the plant. I wash and replant mine every two or three years, with the exception of one calceolus (it is in a part of my rock garden that seems to have no clay), to counter this problem. Another problem is surface roots from other plants. I removed a matt of fine fibrous roots from just under the gravel mulch of another clump of calceolus without disturbing the plant and covered with fresh gravel. I learned from a Swedish web site that terracotta roof tiles can be used to prevent winter rain damaging the plants. I may try this with sensitive plants like flavum and montanum, which I have had problems with in the past? Cold is never a problem for cyps (except ones like californicum, which come from warmer climes). In fact, they need three to four months of 5^oC or lower in order to break their bud dormancy.

[Joakim B]

The Malgren website has a much more organic compost compared with what is the case in the German recomendation. Swedish winters can be wet and cold and also alternating from cold to warm so that is why they have the roof tile. They are also growing for the gardener rather than the cyp lover and that is why they use simple soil and winter covering. They are doning the growing there style and it seems to be a good one.

The site is especially intersting if one wants to grow orchids from seeds since they are amongst the top of the world in that area (for hardy orchids).
Take care
Joakim

[Anthony Darby]

I agree Joakim, but here in Dunblane we have a lot of rain and if I used my normal soil the plants wouldn't survive. Too much rain with a water-retentive soil would cause crown rot. Today I was repotting some of my cyps that have not been disturbed for a couple of years. The photo shows Cypripedium macranthos being processed. I carefully tip the plant out and then rinse in rain water. This one I have grown from a deflasked seedling purchased a few years ago. I hope it will flower soon! The small pot on the right is my mix [40% Seramis®; 40% coarse perlite; 10% fine bark; 10% sieved loam with a handful of crushed oyster shell]. I cover with granite chippings.

[Joakim B]

Nice plant Adarby!
Extra nice to have grown from a seedling.
Are You generally repoting this early?
Growing in clay might be to much for them even if some of the cyp calceolus in Sweden grows in almost clay. I have not seen them so I do not know how "almost clay" it is. Malmgren and Nyström call their soil "free draining good garden soil" so it might not be that different but with an early covering of the plant they get ok conditions. Do You grow in pots that are in the soil or is this only done for the seedlings?
Growing in a more natural soil would meen that You would have huge holes to fill with more natural soil to get it free draining, maybe it is better to have the special mix You use. You obviously get good results according to the pics I have seen so I would not dare to give any advise to You! Maybe the drier rock garden now have a more natural mix around the cyp calceolus and they still look good due to better drainage?

[Anthony Darby]

Pot or garden, I use the same mix. In the garden I dig out a large hole and throw the soil away as only hippos would like it (and probably sing about it). I then fill the hole with the above mix, sometimes lining the hole with a pond lily basket to hold back the mud. I mulch with granite chippings (¼") to keep weeds and cats at bay.