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Re: Epipactis gigantea from seed?

Phil,

The kicker in the T&M blurb is "standard orchid culture" -- agar media, 
etc. There ARE some hardy orchids which self-seed under garden 
conditions: the UBC [Vancouver] Botanic Garden has a swarm of 
Dactylorhiza fuchsii [or a hybrid swarm?] all about moist areas.  

The other Epipactis in our region is E.helleborine -- a European species 
that's spreading naturally in coastal sandy areas.  I'm sure it too, 
would self-seed rapidly in garden habitats.  

If you have a boggy area in your garden, Epipactis gigantea MIGHT come up 
from broadcast seed... but you're much better off starting with plants.  
This species is very vigorous [perhaps invasive if you're a very 
fastidious gardener] and easy to propagate by division.  It will persist 
in "rhododendron soils" that don't dry out completely, though it 
naturally occurs at the edge of running water, including hillside 
Darlingtonia bogs.

You might try to track down the almost-black variant pictured in Pacific 
Horticulture recently, from serpentine soils in northern California.  
I'd check out plant-society and arboretum sales.  Some mail-order 
nurseries have listed it as well.

Loren Russell, Corvallis, Oregon
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