So not too very long ago my Hubby and I were out for a walk at a lovely arboretum in a protected wetland and what did we chance upon but a Lady Slipper Orchid. It was growing wild by the path and was just screaming (or rather politely requesting) that it have it's picture taken. Which of course I obliged. As we walked on, I was stunned by seeing several more. These flowers are an amazing example of co-evolution, as they have evolved to resemble and attract certain insects, fooling the more intrepid arthropods into clambering inside the inviting and rather, well, risque sexy bits of the flower in order to spread the flower's pollen. It works for the flower, and doesn't seem to bother the insects that much, since they go in over and over.
So I took this as a personal challenge to see if I could needle felt a lady slipper....I think I got the IDEA of a lady slipper down, even if it is not a perfect literal translation:
And as you might be able to tell from the scale of my finger there on the left, this felted flower is pretty tiny....
