Orchids provoke such fascination that many people are tempted to try
to transplant them to their gardens at home.
It is my opinion that this is a really BAD idea, and here's why:


1) Orchids have special environment and soil needs; successful transplantation rates are very low, the likely-hood of killing them is very great. If you transplant them to you garden, and then kill them, it is tatamount (in my mind) to intentionally trampling on them in the wild ...

2) They aren't like daisies - They don't readily replace themselves... They take a long time to reach maturity, and a long time to colonize. It will take several years to replace any plants you remove -- that's if the remainding plants aren't all removed by other avid gardeners first...

3) If you have found them on state or public land, then they belong to everyone. I am certain that you wouldn't want me to stop by your yard to dig up a few plants for my own garden. I feel that it is stealing -- not from some faceless bureaucrat in the parks department -- but from the rest of us who pay our taxes and deserve a chance to enjoy them too...

4) If it's on public land, then it's probably illegal anyway. Many types of orchids are protected, so even if they're not on public land, It might be illegal...

If you are lucky enough to find some, please remember:
They're happy where they are!

Why not visit them each spring? I make it a ritual, and it's a great reason to get out! You can have them in your garden by purchasing some plants. There are reputable nurseries that have legally aquired and propogated them for sale. This way you can augment the orchid population instead of depleting it...

I believe that this is the way to get orchids for your garden.

Lady's slippers...Can I grow them? - an interesting article about growing Native species of orchids.

Native orchids of Pennsylvania - A site devoted to our native orchids, and full of interesting and helpful information (http://wild-orchids.com/) Here are her links to sources of native north american orchids:http://www.newnorth.net/~mruh/sources.html

Botanique - a source of lots of native plants, including orchids and carniverous plants.

North American Native Orchid Alliance - For more Native Orchid Information.

And finally, two excellent books about orchids, orchid fanantics, and orchid conservation (it's not as straight-forward as you might think!):

"Orchid Fever" - by Eric Hansen (Pantheon Books, 2000) - ISBN 0-679-45141-2
Available from Amazon

"The Orchid Thief" - By Susan Orlean (Ballantine Books, 1998) - ISBN 0-449-00371-X
Available from Amazon

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