From the early days when Mrs. Jamieson traveled through the wilderness writing letters back home, along with her sister who sketched the botanicals, folks have been interested in unusual flowers. They gathered species to take back to England. They sketched and painted these various orchid beauties in their natural setting. Today because of development, pollution and the loss of bogs and ideal growing conditions, many like this tropical orchid of the lady slipper family, no longer grow in the wild. We are fortunate Ontario still has natural patches of the yellow, pink and some of the showy lady slippers. There may be others unknown to me.

We, as citizens of Ontario, need to protect key areas like our wetlands and bogs, our woodlots and our water sources. We have much here, in this province, but without change, in the blink of an eye, species could disappear.

 

Dave and I were at an orchid show in London (2008) and I didn't get the name of this orchid but I liked its style. I would encourage each and every Ontarian to turn off the television and take a quiet walk on the wild side in a nearby conservation area, bush lot or park. Discover nature and rediscover yourself.

- Jenny