About
Produces a cluster of ribbed, sword-like foliage, topped with upright stems that support multiple pink, aromatic orchid-like blooms, reaching up to 5 cm in width, which emerge in the spring and early summer.
About the genus
Bletilla are terrestrial perennial orchids that lose their leaves in the fall. They feature tuberous pseudobulbs and have ribbed, linear to lanceolate foliage. The flowers are arranged in upright racemes and are bell-shaped.
Growing conditions
- Sunlight
- Partial shade
- Soil pH
- Acid, Alkaline, Neutral
- Soil moisture
- Moist but well-drained
- Aspect
- West-facing, South-facing, North-facing, East-facing
- Exposure
- Sheltered
- UK hardiness
- H4
Plant details
- Plant type
- Conservatory Greenhouse
- Habit
- Bushy
- Foliage
- Deciduous
- Height
- 0.1-0.5 metres
- Spread
- 0.1-0.5 metres
- Time to full height
- 2-5 years
- Suggested uses
- Patio and container plants
- Native to
- China to Japan
Care notes
- Cultivation
- Under glass, grow in peat-free, loam-based potting compost with added leaf mould, in bright filtered or bright indirect light. In summer water freely, applying a quarter strength balanced liquid fertiliser at every third watering. Keep dry in winter
- Pruning
- No pruning required
- Propagation
- Divide in early spring, when plant is large enough
- Pest resistance
- May be susceptible to glasshouse red spider mite, aphids, glasshouse whitefly and mealybugs
- Disease resistance
- Generally disease-free