Cypripedium Tania Pinkepank - Lady Slipper Orchid

Cypripedium 'Tania Pinkepank', sometimes spelled 'Tanja Pinkepank', is a primary hybrid Venus Slipper. Its spectacular spring flowering, with large characteristic flowers, is a superb peach-orange, shaded with yellow. Like all garden orchids, this variety has specific cultivation requirements. It appreciates light shade and semi-shaded areas, temperate climates, moist, sandy, humus-bearing and slightly acidic soil.

Cypripedium 'Tania Pinkepank' is the result of a cross between Cypripedium macranthos var. rebunese and C. calceolus var. flavum. Its first parent is native to Rebun Island in Japan where it is protected. Its second parent is the only European species, where it is becoming rare. 

The 'Tania Pinkepank' variety develops vigorously from a fleshy crown from which light green, oval, elliptical, sessile and embracing leaves emerge in early spring, with strong parallel veins. The crown slightly suckers, allowing it to eventually form small colonies in the undergrowth. For about two weeks in late spring, around May-June the plants produce leafy flowering stems measuring 70-80 cm high, each carrying a large flower measuring up to 12 cm in diameter when not fully open. The flowers are formed by slender, twisted sepals and petals, and a large fleshy lip. They are salmon or peach-orange, streaked with a darker shade and slightly tinged with yellow. The foliage turns yellow in late summer and disappears in autumn, while the plant enters a dormant period.

Cypripedium 'Tania Pinkepank' is a hardy perennial that adapts perfectly to the climatic conditions of mountainous regions. This orchid thrives in the forest edge, preferring a light soil that retains some moisture without being waterlogged. Plant it in a location with not too intense shade like a cool rockery, an ideal habitat for it to thrive and enhance your garden with its unique presence. Pair it with a simple fern like Polypodium vulgare along with the flowering of Trilliums and Lamium orvala. It also thrives in containers, unheated greenhouses, and non-chalky substrates.

When you receive your orchids, handle them with care: these plants produce few roots and are delicate!