I took pictures but they're way overexposed - will try again. We have two sod cutters - Ryan and Jason. They're amazing - when they get their teeth into a project. Almost comatose when they don't. Bahia, you've expressed my concerns but I still couldn't see any alternative. What we have now is low mounds of flipped over overlapping sods arranged toward the back of the bed, among the shrubs there. We'll round out the mounds with topsoil, and then place among them the largest rocks the boys can move, and plant woodland groundcovers - we have a pretty generous budget for plants. Also try to establish some moss. The way I see it, grass is a perennial pest anyway (although no worries here about invasive species like Bermuda). So we'll deal with it as it rears its head - which it will do more than if we'd turned all the sod, but that seemed too daunting a task to tackle manually. The lawn that's left we'll try smothering under fine sawdust topped with eelgrass - a good natural lawn-killer. One of my favourite books is Landscaping with Nature by Jeff Cox (Rodale Books). He reinforces this idea with his description of Rock and Berm Designs p. 32 It is a fun project, Wellspring. Really a dream job.

That is one of my favorites, too, and they just came up here last week. Your photos are pretty decent. Crane-fly Orchid is definitely one of the most difficult plants to photograph. With those muted greens and browns, and shiny stems, the camera doesn't seem to find focus. I usually just point and shoot, but may have to go manual with a tripod for this plant. Thanks for the follow-up.

So, today I dug some up, threw it in a plastic bag, and just tossed it under my holly tree tonight when I got home. No idea what the name was but I've seen it a lot while in the va woods. Now you all ID'ed it, I googled it, and everything says "nearly impossible to transplant"... Lol!!! one site said to bury a pot in the ground next to where it's growing, let it grow in for a year or so, then go back and cut it from the mother and dig up your pot and bury it in the new spot... The let it grow out on its own! well maybe I will try that next weekend... Because I do like the look of it... Very bright green

Thanks. After searching, that looks close. I knew it wasn't ginseng (leaves wrong among other things), but there are similarities.