Scotty Smith's Orchids of Colorado. - Southwest Colorado Wildflowers

REMINISCENCES ABOUT ORCHIDSThe Slow EmpiricistAs I move into my later years I can look back on many wonderful orchidexperiences. Even the frustrating times when searching for a particular species yieldedno plants or only leaves or plants in fruit provided me with pleasure. I enjoy thepursuit where I am not so single of mind that I don‟t find fulfillment from the otherplants and sights I might encounter. Unfortunately, not all orchid enthusiasts feel thatway. I can understand their frustration, especiallywhen they have invested a great deal of time andmoney only to come up empty handed. MyPollyannaish suggestion of there‟s always next yearcan‟t be very ameliorating.What I‟d like to do instead is describe some ofmy more memorable experiences that still give mepleasure as I recall them. I remember drivingthrough the California coastal redwoods north ofSan Francisco and stopping in a grove of the giantsto enjoy their quiet beauty and strength. To mysurprise sprinkling the ground around the trees weredozens of Calypso bulbosa var. occidentalis, the westernfairy slipper. My sensory experience revved up tonearly overload!Two other roadside surprises stay etched inmy memory as well. We were on our way up intoCanada as we were returning from the OlympicPeninsula in Washington and had been headingthrough the Canadian Rockies. We stopped alongthe roadside near Radium Hot Springs tophotograph. I explored the woods along side theroadway and discovered a stand of mountain lady‟sslipper,Cypripedium montanum, still in flower in midJuly! Deeper in the woods I spotted Platantheraorbiculata, the pad-leaved orchis. Both of these beauties were a happy accident waiting177