Rouge, what an eye popping color! I'm looking at it and wondering why it doesn't resemble orchids I'm familiar with.

Lucky brother! Would love to spend some time in England during gardening season.

Well, I don't grow these, but I have do grow some terrestrial orchids and have seen this one mentioned many times. Zones 4 - 5 is very possible.

Here's a great place in Canada to order from. They have a huge selection of hardy orchids - good prices - great plants and for us in the US, importing them isn't all the difficult. I've done it.

Once you click on the link, just scroll down until you come to these. There are many species.

Kevin

Here is a link that might be useful: Frasers

This post was edited by aachenelf on Sat, Jun 14, 14 at 20:57

Hardy orchids sounds like fun. I wish I had the conditions for them. I lose Agastaches and Salvias due to less than optimal drainage in the winter, so I stopped looking before I could see anything I might really want. [g]

Hmmm, hardy orchids - well I have certainly sown some (D.elata, D.purpurea) in the woodland glades....but not foliosa which is grown from (expensive) tubers. Yep, I do see them in bulb catalogues (and may vet dip into my tiny thin purse, now I actually have the habitat for them. However, there are other hardy orchids in my location and I live in hope that they will appear in my woods, especially now that I have been clearing bramble and bringing some light and air into the space.......but it is an impossible task to try to grow these in any sort of potting mix. They have mysterious needs - very specific microlife and soil conditions (unlike those moth orchids which have been grown in their millions). When you buy seed, you actually get a minute little vial with 10,000 microscopic seeds which you fling around with crossed fingers.
I am surprised that these seem unavailable in the US - the Madeiran orchid is fairly common and can be found in quite a few nurseries and bulb catalogues....and I would expect this to increase (much like cyprimediums....which, although still pricey, are easily aquired)
As for the hardiness, well, England is roughly Z8 and most of the dactylorhizae are of Mediterranean origin....but I did read that there are also a couple native to the US....all of them look very similar and can be difficult to differentiate between....

PM2 I know nothing about orchids but as you say this one doesnt resemble my vision of these plants. I like it better.

Kevin, thanks for the link. There are many aren't there? But I do not see this specific one ie Dactylorhiza foliosa.

try madeira orchid

This is our native Dactylorhiza fuchsii, Common SPotted Orchid, in my wood. It comes in dark and light versions. I have inadvertently grown some in a pot. They have mysterious needs as Campanula said. Having tried sowing the seed and finally given up I reused the compost in another container and lo and behold up they came.

This is a paler form.

Rouge, there were several growing in the gardens at the original Heronswood (Z8), I'm not certain if they are still there or not, didn't notice any in a hurried trip through last month, those gardens still being restored. Dan's suggestions (in the old, detailed pictureless catalogs) said hardy to Z5, all but about one he was offering for sale were noted as shady, moist cool soils, summer-cool regions, resentful of sun. I had dactylorhiza x grandis in my former garden in a shady but rooty area (Japanese maple and a viburnum providing corner shade) and it never really increased much in size. It was dormant when we made a spur of the moment decision to buy and move, didn't come with me but if I did happen across it again I'd be tempted to try it here.

Ho yes, that re-using compost trick - a whole slew of acer ginnala seeds are growing round a rose I had (ahem) top-dressed with the old pots. I used to tip all my pots into an old compost bag and chuck it in the allotment raised beds.....but have now been throwing it in a dedicated area (next to the compost) and living in hope (again).....although I still squint hopelessly at a lot of the arisings (seed or weed). Willowherbs, which put up such impressive rosettes, are often almost grown before realisation dawns. Of course, the whole labelling thing is a source of mystery to me - they always start off with labels but the endless pricking out, potting up, potting on.......it is a crapshoot exactly what I am growing....and, unlike you, Flora, I have not really gotten much better at the ID and recognition lark.

Lovely plants, Rouge, Floral.

Camp, floral, morz8 et al, thank you as always for your experiences and pictures. I have learned much.

I always just assumed this was one of those plants that can tolerate some warmth and maybe a little drying out, but really prefers the cool damp life. If you want to check out Ian young's bulb log, he usually has a few posts on them since they seed all over his garden. Try looking through June for the blooms scattered throughout the garden.
He gardens in Aberdeen and also has things like blue poppies selfsowing, so if you've ever needed to pull up excess Himalayan blue poppies then this might be the plant for you!

Here is a link that might be useful: Bulb log

There are an awful lot of terrestrial orchids that can be grown in ordinary potting mix - maybe with a bit of extra peat or sand or perlite depending on their needs. I grow a few which aren't hardy here, but they do go outside in the summer protected from the squirrels by a wire cage. For winter when they go dormant, they simply get stuck in a cool spot in my house. The only one with a bit of a special need is the Hab. rhodecheila which likes small pebbles added to the potting mix. The small rhizomes like to attach themselves to these. It's really odd to see the rhizomes wrapped around these stones.

Kevin

{{gwi:242315}}

{{gwi:242316}}

{{gwi:242318}}

{{gwi:242320}}

I grow Dactylorhiza foliosa in Latvia, where soil in winter solidly frozen and temperature sometimes reach -22F, after two years I divided this orchid clump in november, and got 5 big and healthy new plants.

I suspect these orchids have very precise connections with myccorhizae and bacteria in the soil - as long as you maintain the original soil around a division, I would think you could keep on dividing every few years with impunity now, Kristine. Job well done (trying to suppress deep envy).