Last year, shortly after moving into my new apartment, I was taking a walk in the woods behind the complex and stumbled across a nice little population of Cypripedium acaule. Conveniently only about a 10 minute hike out. Unfortunately, this was midsummer, so they were already bloomed out for the year. But I made note of them with the intention of watching them this year. I am guessing it is a fairly new (or recovering) population because the number of very mature plants is small (I only saw a dozen or so big ones). There were a TON of little guys though. This year, I am going to watch them carefully and try to catch a timelapse of them coming up and opening. Figured I would share those images here for others to enjoy as well. I may also try to give them some help with pollination. Last year was a rough one for them. I only saw 3 seed pods, of which, 2 were destroyed by the heavy rains/floods/falling trees. Also, there were many mounds of decomposing granite/mica chips that seemed to be havens for seedlings. Quite a few of these got completely washed out (presumably along with all of the seedlings they sheltered). So, without further ado!
It's a loose pine/hardwood area. The ground is mostly decomposing granite/mica covered by leaf litter (oak, hickory, and pine).
This past week they have just started to break through!
...still attached to last years surviving pod:
...closeup of new growth with last years leaves:
Well, at least they'll have plenty of iron
Stay tuned. I am going to try for weekly updates (barring terrible weather). When the flowers start to open, I'll try and get out there every couple days.
It's a loose pine/hardwood area. The ground is mostly decomposing granite/mica covered by leaf litter (oak, hickory, and pine).

This past week they have just started to break through!

...still attached to last years surviving pod:

...closeup of new growth with last years leaves:

Well, at least they'll have plenty of iron

Stay tuned. I am going to try for weekly updates (barring terrible weather). When the flowers start to open, I'll try and get out there every couple days.