Rose Pagonia Orchids

 

Hunting for wild orchids in the New Jersey pine barrens is one of my favorite summer activities. Last week I visited a bog full of these pretty pink rose pagonia orchids.

See the colorful fringe on the flower's lower lip? It's the inspiration for one of the flower's other common names -- the snake mouth orchid.

These orchids are not just pretty. They smell delicious, like sweet raspberries. 

Look for rose pagonia orchids in wet places, especially where sphagnum moss grows.

So pretty! Click to enlarge.

This remote spot where I saw all these orchids brings to mind words attributed to Confucius: "An orchid in a deep forest sends out its fragrance even if no one is around to appreciate it." 

Wild Orchids

 

I found this wild rose pogonia orchid on the shore of a lake where the water reflects white clouds. I'm just now getting around to bragging about my sightings of these summer orchids. They bloom in the New Jersey pine barrens from mid-June through early July.

Here's one close up. The lower lip is bearded with a colorful fringe. It is easy to understand its common name of snake mouth orchid.

Insects Close Up

The hot days of July are great for photographing insects. This bumble bee seems to be posing on the aster blossom, doesn't it?

I like to get close enough to imagine being enfolded in the pastel landscape of the flower, to be in the insect's world.  Click to enlarge.

See how the stamens seem to float in the center of this red daylily?

When a green sweat bee lands ...

It can look surreal.

Sometimes a photo reveals a lurking arthropod surprise. I was taking pictures of wild rose pagonia orchids like this one in the New Jersey pine barrens.

I was about to delete this shot because it's not sharply focused when I noticed that yellow blip on the petal.

Zoom surprise! The yellow blip is a crab spider.

And surprise within surprise! The spider is holding a tiny captured insect.

Uncomfortable weather for us out there right now. Good times for the insects.

My Orchid Trophies

Now that summer has settled into the dog days, I'm reminiscing about all the cool spring afternoons I spent hunting for orchids in the New Jersey pine barrens. I found all four of the flashy pink ones that I had hoped to see this year by scouring the edges of bogs like the one pictured above. The photos are my trophies. Click to enlarge.

This is the dragon's mouth orchid, Arethusa bulbosa. I took this picture in mid-May.

These are pink lady's slippers, Cypripedium acaule. Also seen in May.

These are rose pogonias, Pogonia ophioglossoides. This picture reminds me of these words from Confucius:  "An orchid in a deep forest sends out its fragrance even if no one is around to appreciate it." This picture is from June.

Here's a closer look at the rose pogonia, also called the snake mouth orchid.

This is the complex and beautiful grass pink,
Calopogon tuberosus. Another June bloomer.

I am resting on my orchid laurels inside in air-conditioned comfort today. Are they not lovely?