Best time to plant cypripedium?

[Bjorn]

Hi, not sure whether this is the correct place to put this, but ....although pretty experienced with tropical orchids, I am a novice regarding hardy orchids, so in order not to do any (unnecessary) mistakes, I decided to ask the expertise...
I recently aquired some cypripedium in pots that I want to plant in my garden. When is the best time to do that- or does it not matter as they are potted? Species include reginae, flava, kentuckiensis etc.
B

 

[KyushuCalanthe]

As long as the plants look healthy, I'd leave them in pots until they begin to go dormant, just be sure to fertilize them to get fat buds for next year. After dormancy plant them out and that should do it.

Normally, fall planting is best, especially for divisions, IMO. You are right though, they could be planted out now, but you may damage some of the growing roots.

 

[cabnc]

Where is S. Norway ? Near Fredrikstad ??

Charlie

 

[Eric Muehlbauer]

Fall planting is definitely best. One problem I have with spring planting is that what looks like a very nice spot in early spring turns out to be a bad choice when it ends up totally overgrown in summer. Planting in fall allows you to see all of the surrounding vegetation, so you can pick the best spot.

 

[Bjorn]

Thanks, seems to be best to wait.
B

 

[Linus_Cello]

Agreed. I think fall is best. Something you may want to do now is to prep the site (make sure there aren't tree roots, add some additional media for better drainage, etc).

Another consideration is maybe getting something to help protect the plants. Maybe a cage to help protect shoots next year, and/or to help provide leaf mulch coverage.

 

[Dido]

I would go for fall, or you plant them in containers and keep them in the sahde for the first winter.
If you have a place where you think it is ok start with reginae, they will sell very cehap here this fast grown NL plants. If you like I can give you a address, when you order more you will get a discount and he can clear papers for you. PM if you want to know more.

Regards Christoph

 

[Bjorn]

Thanks Christoph, I collected a dozen or so when I recently was in Germany. Potted of course. So now they are in my garden waiting to be planted. I have a spot in my garden dedicated to Cyps which means that the soil is improved and the plot gets covered with plastic and mulch in case of extremely wet conditions. Cold hardy does not mean that they like being inside a block of ice! I learnt this the hard way. Believe I have got the grip on it now though. But it is a good idea to prepare the soil well, mine is too loamy so I have to add plenty of perlite in order to "air " it up. Mulching is another good idea.