About
Bletilla striata f. gebina is a resilient terrestrial orchid that features flattened pseudobulbs and broad, lanceolate leaves with a textured surface. In the spring through early summer, it bears white flowers measuring about 2.5 cm (1 in) across, each adorned with a distinctive pale lilac lip.
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 type
- Chalk, Clay, Loam, Sand
- Soil pH
- Acid, Alkaline, Neutral
- Soil moisture
- Moist but well-drained
- Aspect
- East-facing, North-facing, West-facing
- Exposure
- Sheltered
- UK hardiness
- H4
Plant details
- Plant type
- Herbaceous Perennial
- Habit
- Clump forming
- Foliage
- Deciduous
- Height
- 0.1-0.5 metres
- Spread
- 0.5-1 metres
- Time to full height
- 2-5 years
- Suggested uses
- City and courtyard gardens, Cottage and informal garden
- Native to
- Japan
Care notes
- Cultivation
- Under glass, grow in peat-free, loam-based potting compost with additional leaf mould, in bright filtered or bright indirect light. In summer, water liberally, applying a quarter-strength fertiliser every third watering. Keep dry in winter. Outdoors, grow in moist, well-drained humus-rich soil in a sheltered site, and provide partial shade in summer. Mulch in winter, or alternatively, lift and store in a dry and frost-free place.
- Pruning
- No pruning required. Remove withered leaves in autumn or late winter.
- Propagation
- Propagate by division in early spring.
- Pest resistance
- May be susceptible to glasshouse red spider mite, glasshouse whitefly, aphids and mealybugs.
- Disease resistance
- Generally disease-free