Wowww that's an awesome lady slipper~ sorry it didn't work out this year. And now a whole year more of waiting. I had one of my orchids almost in bloom, then... #CATS. I know it was one of them that did it, broke the whole stem right off. I tried putting it in water to hope it would open but no luck.
I have a wild lady slipper that grows here in my yard. It's nowhere near as magnificent as that one. Pink and brown hahaha. Bad combo, but whatevs, I don't have to care for it so there's that...
Oomph yeah the buds are easy to knock off. one year I accidentally knocked over my chocolate orchid and most the buds fell off before they got a chance to bloom. Maybe one day I can get a greenhouse setup going for a better orchid environment (safe from me knocking them over lol).