Putting on quite a show this week is the native bog orchid, Calopogon tuberosus…aka: grass pink. In the wild, these have a huge native range, from Canada south to Florida. Loving the same growing conditions as sarracenia (pitcher plants), they thrive here in full sun, in a bed of 50% peat/sand. If you have time to pull up a chair, you can watch the amazing pollination trick it plays on bees. Although the flower doesn’t provide nectar, it attracts bumble bees, which once they land, fall backward thanks to the secret hinged lip, coating them with pollen, which they subsequently transfer to another flower. As bog orchids go, this is certainly one of the easiest to cultivate. Hardiness is Zone 3a-9b.
