Michael C. LaFerney in Lakeville, Massachusetts, shared a few photos with us . . .

. . . of some lady slippers.

Okay, bad joke, but wow! That is an actual lady slipper orchid—pink lady slipper to be exact (Cypripedium acaule, Zones 3–8).

Here is just the orchid itself. It is a native wildflower found over a wide range of eastern North America, usually in dry woods and usually under pines. These native orchids are incredibly beautiful, but they are not always easy to find in the wild. And if you do find them in the wild, be sure to leave them be. Native orchids have very specific cultural needs and close symbiotic relationships with soil fungi, so they rarely do well when transplanted from their wild habitat into a garden.

And if you are lucky enough to have these beauties growing around you, well, you can enjoy making silly puns with them.

Have a garden you’d like to share?

Have photos to share? We’d love to see your garden, a particular collection of plants you love, or a wonderful garden you had the chance to visit!

To submit, send 5-10 photos to [email protected] along with some information about the plants in the pictures and where you took the photos. We’d love to hear where you are located, how long you’ve been gardening, successes you are proud of, failures you learned from, hopes for the future, favorite plants, or funny stories from your garden.

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