Outdoor

Sabot de Vénus

Europe's most strictly protected wild orchid: a lacquered yellow slipper that traps pollinators and takes ten years to flower from seed.

Care Profile

A guide to ensuring your botanical companion thrives.

Europe

Dappled shade

Weekly

Expert

The only European orchid to carry a true slipper, it grows in open woodland and limestone grassland from France to Siberia.

Its germination depends on a soil fungus, so a plant may take a decade to flower; it is now protected by law across Europe.

"The Lady's Slipper is not picked: it is earned by looking."

Light shade

Plant it in the filtered light of a woodland edge, sheltered from afternoon sun.

Cool limy soil

Keep the soil cool, well drained and rich in lime, with no standing water in winter.

Never wild-collected

Buy only laboratory-propagated plants: collecting from the wild is illegal and threatens the species.

More botanical treasures to discover.

Origin

South America

Light

Full sun

Watering

Weekly

Care

Easy

Flowering