Orchids In Your Garden

Here in the Orchid garden it is finally spring and my "Chinese Ground Orchids" are beginning to poke their green heads up out of my flower garden. Would you like to have orchids growing in your very own flower beds even though you live in a colder non-tropical climate? Chances are, you can! While browsing your local garden supply centers for your spring bulbs, look for Chinese Ground Orchids.

In my area, Northern Utah, I find packages of Bletilla striata hanging near the gladiolus and other packaged bulbs. These hardy little orchids originated in China and Japan but can now be found living in many gardens in the UK and Europe as well as here in the USA.

When you first start growing orchids, you will often hear the advice, "Do not plant them in soil!" This advice is true -- unless you are growing terrestrial orchids. Bletillas are terrestrial orchids and are among the three species currently being commercially cultivated: B. striata (also known as the B. hyacinthina), B. ochracea, and B. formosana. There are also several registered hybrids available: Yokohama (N. Suzuki 1956 - Bletilla striata x formosana), Coritani (R. Evenden 1994 - Bletilla formosana x ochracea), and Brigantes (R.G. & A. Evenden 1994 - Bletilla striata x ochracea). I personally grow B. striata that produce blossoms which are pink with a darker pink lip and B. striata f. alba, a form that produces white blossoms. Both of these species are hardy down to about 20 degrees f (-7c)in the winter (when covered with mulch). In colder areas, you may need to dig up the bulbs much like you would gladiola bulbs or plant them in flower pots which you can bring into the house for the winter.

I have been successfully growing these little delights around the outside of my greenhouse for over 20 years. They are watered and fertilized by the water that drains from my greenhouse which they really enjoy. I have planted them on both the west and south sides of the greenhouse to take advantage of the sun, they multiply readily into nice clumps. The flowers are excellent as cut flowers and have a nice soft fragrance. Every spring these little orchids send up tall leaves with prominent pleats running down them. Then, in early summer, they send up an inflorescent that can reach over 30 inches tall with up to a dozen 1 1/2 inch blossoms.

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