Go figure.....there are thousands of them here on our property and figured they were common all over Florida. Like I said I have no knowledge of Orchids:) I do like the lil devils though and I would have felt guilty cutting the tree if I knew they were in it. Luckily for me I did not know they were there till the magnolia fell. They are an odd plant...we have huge hickory trees and yet they are not in them at all. They also do not seem to like the water oaks. They do like the magnolias and the who knows how old huge live oaks they are loaded with both them and the resurrection ferns.

To all concerned: I am sending your trade items, but right now the heat would kill the plants. The delay before was caused by the relentless flooding we experienced here in Illinois. It's taken us months to clean up & rebuild. I had no internet connection for long periods of time, which is why I wasn't responding. One person I trade with lives not far from me and she experienced the same flooding....we ended up trading in person just 2 weeks ago. I can't apologise enough to you all. You have every right to be angered, and I am so very sorry. A few of the plants in the trades have gone dormant, but will be sending up shoots again in the autumn. The rest, you'll all receive as soon as I can afford to post them. The cleanup has been expensive, to put it mildly. I'm not asking your forgiveness here, just explaining what happened. Best wishes to you all, Lily

Hi Uli, I live in Oregon in the Portland area, but I'm new to a lot of the region this year. Unfortunately, the only C. montanum colony I know of is winding down by mid june and the flowers look less than perfect at this time. I will be in search of C californicum this year, but still don't know exactly where. The parviflorum varieties are much harder to find here, apparently. I've heard that the Blue Mountains in Eastern Washington/Western Idaho are a nice place to see Cyps, but again, they may be nearly finished by mid June. One thing I have seen in full display in late June is Calypso in the Rockies just northwest of Denver @ 10,000ft. Of course, there are various Platanthera/Piperia species flowering at that time, though I don't know how interested you are in these. Perhaps it would be useful to contact some of the native plant societies here and ask them about orchid walks at that time. There are populations of Cyps at higher elevations than those that I know. Best, Ross

Amy I hope you'll bring your grasses to the Plant Swap on November 1 held at Forest Park. I don't know if you'll find what you're looking for in native grasses, but you're sure to find something pretty and besides who wouldn't want to spend a day with a bunch of radical Texas gardeners? Cheryl