Calopogon tuberosus

The second day of my weekend trip to the Atlantic Coastal Plain... These shots represent native orchids found in the Francis Marion National Forest, near Charleston, SC. Some are repeat species that I photographed in the Green Swamp near Wilmington, NC on the previous day. The only differences being the white orchids toward the end of today's post.

A full day of botanizing in the upstate of South Carolina ended only by a sudden torrent of rain. But before the rain, we managed to see some beautiful flowers. These are a few images of a lovely native orchid - Common Grass-pink orchid. It is early to bloom this year (as are many other flowers) due to the short winter in our area.

A full day of botanizing in the upstate of South Carolina ended only by a sudden torrent of rain. But before the rain, we managed to see some beautiful flowers. These are a few images of a lovely native orchid - Common Grass-pink orchid. It is early to bloom this year (as are many other flowers) due to the short winter in our area.

A full day of botanizing in the upstate of South Carolina ended only by a sudden torrent of rain. But before the rain, we managed to see some beautiful flowers. These are a few images of a lovely native orchid - Common Grass-pink orchid. It is early to bloom this year (as are many other flowers) due to the short winter in our area.

Just a short morning trip up the road to shoot more spring flowers. I was fortunate to find some really colorful ones on this trip. Calopogon tuberosus (Common grass-pink orchid) is one of my favorites to shoot. This year, it has outdone itself in a cataract bog area of the upstate. This is where water flows over a granite bald in such a way to provide constant moisture for plants along its edges. This particular orchid just loves to be near water, but in this case, it is growing in less than two inches of soil which is overlaying solid rock!

Just a short morning trip up the road to shoot more spring flowers. I was fortunate to find some really colorful ones on this trip. Calopogon tuberosus (Common grass-pink orchid) is one of my favorites to shoot. This year, it has outdone itself in a cataract bog area of the upstate. This is where water flows over a granite bald in such a way to provide constant moisture for plants along its edges. This particular orchid just loves to be near water, but in this case, it is growing in less than two inches of soil which is overlaying solid rock!

Just a short morning trip up the road to shoot more spring flowers. I was fortunate to find some really colorful ones on this trip. Calopogon tuberosus (Common grass-pink orchid) is one of my favorites to shoot. This year, it has outdone itself in a cataract bog area of the upstate. This is where water flows over a granite bald in such a way to provide constant moisture for plants along its edges. This particular orchid just loves to be near water, but in this case, it is growing in less than two inches of soil which is overlaying solid rock!

We just returned from the 3-day annual symposium of the Native Orchid Conference. This year, we had our meeting in Wilmington, North Carolina. The field trips were held in the Green Swamp, a 17,000 acre holding managed by The Nature Conservancy. It is known for its wonderful native orchids as well as its superb carnivorous plants. Since it was an orchid symposium, I will honor this by presenting orchid images in the first pass then follow up with other wildflowers in the next few days...

We just returned from the 3-day annual symposium of the Native Orchid Conference. This year, we had our meeting in Wilmington, North Carolina. The field trips were held in the Green Swamp, a 17,000 acre holding managed by The Nature Conservancy. It is known for its wonderful native orchids as well as its superb carnivorous plants. Since it was an orchid symposium, I will honor this by presenting orchid images in the first pass then follow up with other wildflowers in the next few days...

There is something blooming in my bog garden now that the pitcher plants have finished blooming. This orchid species is one that is usually seen as having magenta/pink flowers. However, occasionally there is a white one in the bunch. My original plant came from a roadside in North Carolina, near the Atlantic coast. Over the years, it has multiplied, and now it provides a bit of contrast with the dark red and yellow pitchers of my Sarracenia plants...

There is something blooming in my bog garden now that the pitcher plants have finished blooming. This orchid species is one that is usually seen as having magenta/pink flowers. However, occasionally there is a white one in the bunch. My original plant came from a roadside in North Carolina, near the Atlantic coast. Over the years, it has multiplied, and now it provides a bit of contrast with the dark red and yellow pitchers of my Sarracenia plants...

There is something blooming in my bog garden now that the pitcher plants have finished blooming. This orchid species is one that is usually seen as having magenta/pink flowers. However, occasionally there is a white one in the bunch. My original plant came from a roadside in North Carolina, near the Atlantic coast. Over the years, it has multiplied, and now it provides a bit of contrast with the dark red and yellow pitchers of my Sarracenia plants...

There is something blooming in my bog garden now that the pitcher plants have finished blooming. This orchid species is one that is usually seen as having magenta/pink flowers. However, occasionally there is a white one in the bunch. My original plant came from a roadside in North Carolina, near the Atlantic coast. Over the years, it has multiplied, and now it provides a bit of contrast with the dark red and yellow pitchers of my Sarracenia plants...

There is something blooming in my bog garden now that the pitcher plants have finished blooming. This orchid species is one that is usually seen as having magenta/pink flowers. However, occasionally there is a white one in the bunch. My original plant came from a roadside in North Carolina, near the Atlantic coast. Over the years, it has multiplied, and now it provides a bit of contrast with the dark red and yellow pitchers of my Sarracenia plants...

There is something blooming in my bog garden now that the pitcher plants have finished blooming. This orchid species is one that is usually seen as having magenta/pink flowers. However, occasionally there is a white one in the bunch. My original plant came from a roadside in North Carolina, near the Atlantic coast. Over the years, it has multiplied, and now it provides a bit of contrast with the dark red and yellow pitchers of my Sarracenia plants...

Just a few images from my front yard bog garden...

I went out this morning on my daily rounds to check on the status of the bog garden. To my surprise, there were two open flowers on one of the purple Grass-pink orchid plants. Looks like there will be eight to ten flowers before it is done...

I went out this morning on my daily rounds to check on the status of the bog garden. To my surprise, there were two open flowers on one of the purple Grass-pink orchid plants. Looks like there will be eight to ten flowers before it is done...