First Cypripedium!!! :):):)

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Hello OB party peeps!

I just got my first Cypripedium. Honestly, I'm a bit tickled.

Got brave and got what I thought might be able to tolerate inland So Cal weather.

Cypripedium pletrochilum

I know nothing about Cyps other than:

1. They go dormant in the winter and they grow and bloom during the summer.

2. Need cool to cold weather to enter dormancy in the winter.

3. Are for the most part frost hardy.

4. Grow in bright shade to partial sun.

5. And are finicky in pot culture.

This one's supposedly one of the minis. More precisely, it's a Ram's Horn type related to Cyp. arietinum.

I'm not sure what this particular species grows in, from what I understand they grow on limestone and possibly have their roots trailing in woodland type topsoil.

My potting medium is large pebbles of limestone on the bottom layer. A loose woodland potting soil with a little sand, pumice, and small chunks of limestone in it (where the roots are laying in). And a top layer of small grade orchid bark with perlite (the little shoots are only partially buried by the bark, they see some sunlight).

They're often found with another Cypripedium species, Cyp. henryi. I've read that they're supposedly found in relatively great abundance.

Obviously mine are dormant, and I've got two little shoots (they're pretty tall, about 1/2"). The only thing I see of the older shoot is a dried up little stick (most of which I cut down to the level of the little shoots) and some roots (don't know how much of that is still alive so I didn't do anything to them).

My questions are mostly concerning if I've got them in the correct potting mix and how to over-winter these guys.

I'm not sure if I should once-in-a-long-while mist the bark, or just leave them completely bone dry during dormancy.

Also...did I make a mistake in cutting what I presumed to be the dead and dried up part of the old shoot? Does it have the "I look dead, but I'm not fully dead" syndrome?

Basically, to use the terms from a character from the movie The Princess Bride...

Was the seemingly dried up and spent older shoot just "mostly dead" or is it "all dead"?

Thanks to all who can help in advance.

Will post pics if this plant lives...