Something like Paphiopedilum insigne does better here outside in in a Shade-house or in a shaded spot in the garden than in a glass-house. So it depends a bit on the ancestors where you site your Paph. because some like it warmer than insigne. I think they need a mix that doesn't dry out between waterings, in other words just moist all the time rather than very wet or very dry. Not much help! See if you can find some complete culture notes on the net that are written for NE USA.

Norma, Could be someone who's filling their garden as well. Here in Nova Scotia, they are on the endangered list and it is unlawful to pick the plant or the flower. We have them growing in a small meadow, both the pinks and the whites (which are even more rare). We've had folks ask if they could have some for their gardens, in which case I educated them in regards to the fact that it takes seven year for this plant to flower after the seed germinates, and once the flower is picked, the plant will never bloom again. We have 14 prescious 'Ladies' as we call them. They are real treasures!

I'm a logger just up from coons bay Oregon, been topping trees quite possably the toughest man alive. (Ray Stevens early 70's) I cleared a camp lot on a lake that included chipping all the brush, leaving all trees over 10" chest high, and making a 10' driveable path to the water 150' from the camp site. Mixed wood but several 20-30" pine. gramp was a farmer/ florest and when I was old enough to reach I was pinching mums for the double blossems. I ran the back hoe rocking and stumping the path to the water. When I saw a lady slipper I would scoop it and when I set it down I would press the bucket down enough to move 2" of soil. It was a bid job and the camp owner didn't know slippers from dandy lions so I never got off the machine to tamp them in. 8 years later I got a call from the camp owner asking what I had charged her to plant the slippers because it wasn't on the bill. she now had hundreds and her friend wanted her camp to look like that to. It was a border about a back hoe reach on both sides of her road. I only moved 10 -12 plants. Be sure I turned down that job , not even on a bet. I don't remember what the weather was, it was spring and I must not have been pressed for another job in min. are money deal. She hand clips around them now and I get work on that lake that $10,000 of advertizing wouldn't buy.

Hey I really like that expression: Guerilla rescue! I really hate the thought of loss of habitat due to human encroachment as I have seen some very cool natural spots turned into dirt and development. If only time was on my side I would have been out digging up some native violets and peonies that were literally stripped off the face of the earth along with an endemic manzanita and ceanothus species! Definitely let it be known about the C. acaule needing rescue! I am glad to hear that kwoods is growing the species. I have tried but did not succeed like I wanted. I attribute this entirely to total ignorance about its growing conditions. I tried for a year to get more detailed info on the kind of substrate the plant was growing in but only succeeded at getting general terminology such as acidic soil! So now I am letting bags of leaves rot and have some old bark that will break up in your hands but in mulling this all over I think that the acid soil idea is not really the definitive factor in raising C. acaule. I think the definitive factor is soil temperature. I am starting to suspect that C. acaule needs a cool substrate in which to grow. Kind of like Darlingtonia californica or even Dendrobium cuthbertsonii. The roots need to be cool. Is there a relationship between soil pH and soil temperature? Eventually I hope to try C. acaule again but from a different perspective and experiment. Oh, I grow the plants in pots as I have to refrigerate over winter because my night temps only get down into the high 30s occasionally. As far as handling the plant I do not really know if it matters whether one is ginger with the plant or not. Now is the time to repot and/or divide up plants. I have a C. kentuckiense and a C. reginae that I just depotted and potted up into a 1-gallon pot. I removed as much as the old mix as possible-it had gotten too mushy for my tastes and think that the debris type mix that I am currently using on most everything will prove to be the best yet. It will be interesting to see how they do with my handling! Whatever is done regarding the threaten cyp please do make a journal with images and observations about the plant and share!! The biggest problem to success with these babies is the conflicting information that is on the net as to how to handle them. Hopefully in due time that will change.