Seek and you’ll find native orchids in Washington
DEBBIE CAFAZZO debbie.cafazzo@thenewstribune.com Tacoma News Tribune February 9th, 2008

Photos by Melissa Rathbun of Cypripedium parviflorum var maskins
Orchids flourish in the tropics, but they also call the Evergreen State home.

The founders of the Washington Native Orchid Society count 41 types of orchids that grow both east and west of the Cascade Mountains.

“I was surprised to find out we had native orchids,” says Tina Taylor of Belfair. With her daughter, Melissa Rathbun of Gig Harbor, she helped found the Washington Native Orchid Society.

“Even people who are interested in native plants don’t always realize we have native orchids,” Taylor says. “They’re not all that easy to find. It takes a little investigating.”

Taylor, Rathbun and other members of the society have helped catalog many of our state’s native orchids on the group’s Web site.

The group emphasizes conservation and caution around these flowers, many of which are in danger of extinction, due to either over-harvesting or loss of habitat. Picking the flowers, digging them up or trampling the plants’ delicate roots can kill them.

“The calypso orchid, or fairy slipper, looks so out of place when you see it in the forest,” Taylor says. “Most people fall in love with it.”

But if you dig this plant up and move it to your backyard, she warns, it will probably die. That’s because it is nearly impossible to duplicate the special shade, water and soil conditions it craves. Likewise, picking a wild orchid deprives the plant of a chance to produce seeds and reproduce.

Taylor urges anyone who finds a native orchid to “leave it alone.”

“Take a picture, and try not to walk too close,” she adds.

The large yellow lady slipper, on the other hand, is a native Washington orchid that is cultivated commercially and is a good choice for gardeners who want to try growing native orchids outdoors, says Taylor.

If you find the orchid growing wild, it would probably be at the edge of a woodland, perhaps in a marshy area or streamside.

“If you have a woodland garden, and you can grow trillium, ferns and Solomon seal, that would be a good place to try orchids,” says Taylor.

Don’t try it in bright sunlight or a rock garden; those environments are much too hot.

“You need to buy it from someone reputable,” she adds. “Don’t dig it out of the wild. There are not enough left.”