Ask folks around here to name a favorite flower and, no doubt, Cypripedium acaule—the Pink Lady's Slipper, or Moccasin Flower—will top many lists. This late-May stunner is certainly high up on my list, and I've always known where to hike to find it. Alas, the C. acaule congregation in our woods petered out a decade ago, and the other population, in the doomed woods and meadow across the street, was wrenched out of existence by the self-proclaimed "conservation minded" developers who destroyed the natural environment to "improve" it. Enough said. But today—oh happy one!—I discovered a new batch of Lady's Slippers in partial and glorious full bloom along an obscure edge of woodland that I hope no one else will locate. The orchids seem to have everything they need: dappled sunlight, no deer to browse them to the ground, and the soil-inhabiting Rhizoctonia fungi to partner with to obtain nutrients for seed and plant growth. It's botanical ecstasy all around.