Here are a couple pictures from our yard of yellow lady’s slippers. Lady Slippers are one of my favorite flowers. We did not know they were there when we bought our property and were very pleased when we discovered them.

Yellow Ladys Slippers

Yellow Ladys Slippers

Ladys Slipper Closeup

The yellow lady’s slippers in our yard are now past peak, but early May is the time of year to see them. In the May 2010 Potomac Appalachian newsletter, Lee Scheaffer describes where you can find them along the Appalachian Trail near Linden, VA in the G. Richard Thompson Wildlife Management Area. The article starts on the first page and is entitled “It’s A Flower Thing.”

Part way up the Blue Ridge from Lake Thompson, there is a good sized black cherry tree in G. Richard Thompson Wildlife Management Area.

Last Sunday was a gorgeous day; we went on a short hike around Lake Thompson in the G. Richard Thompson Wildlife Management Area.

Periwinkle is an invasive species from Europe, but sometimes you find it deep in the woods presumably planted by someone long ago.  An evergreen with nice flowers, periwinkle is a popular plant that does well in the shade.

If you decide to grow periwinkle you should keep it to a confined area where it cannot spread out-of-control.  Periwinkle can form a thick mat which can choke out native wildflowers like bloodroot.