Bletilla striped or hyacinth-like

Family: Orchidaceae. They grow on clay-sandy soils in moist shaded places on hills and on mountain slopes in China and Japan. This genus includes 9 species which, like all orchids, form bulb-like pseudobulbs. Several species are cultivated as ornamental plants and are used in Chinese medicine.

Plants 30-70 cm tall. Rhizome with tuberous-thickened annual growths. The above-ground part is represented by leaves and the flowering stem. Long closed leaf sheaths form a fairly tall (12-15 cm high) false stem (with an inflorescence up to 45 cm high). There are 3 lower sheaths; they are scale-like and do not bear blades; the fourth has a small leaf-like extension; true leaves 3-4, they are oblanceolate, pointed, with pronounced longitudinal folds, large, 20-30 cm long, green, without hairs or pubescence. Inflorescence - a sparse spike of 1-8 flowers. Flowers large, up to 3-4 cm long, bright, lilac-pink, with a delicate fragrance. Bracts are petaloid, greenish-purple, falling off by the time the flowers open. Sepals oblanceolate, acuminate; petals irregularly oblanceolate, blunt. Lip elongated-ovate, three-lobed; lateral lobes raised upward, their margins rolled inward, forming a kind of tube; their outer ends triangular, intensely colored, with a whitish edge; the middle lobe slightly grooved, inside with 5-7 longitudinal curly-toothed whitish ridges, between the ridges longitudinally brownish-striated, and in the center with many dark-purple dots and spots; the outer edge of the middle lobe together with the small central notch is dark purple. Column straight, whitish in the lower part and purple in the upper; the lower and middle parts are speckled with small brown strokes and dots. Pollinia in one pouch. Ovary bent, not twisted.

In cultivation it is known in Japan, England and Germany.

Location: well-lit with protection from direct sunlight. It is recommended to bury pots with the plants in an elevated, well-drained area, and in winter to cover them with an inverted box and cover with leaves.

In the south it overwinters perfectly, even becomes naturalized, without losing its decorative appeal. In spring, in the botanical gardens of Sukhumi and Yalta one can admire magnificent flowering beds of Bletilla. They do not require special care.

Soil: undemanding, can grow in ordinary garden soil, but prefers a special orchid potting mix or a mixture of equal parts lime, leaf mold and sand. The site should be sufficiently moist.

Planting: plant immediately after purchase at a depth of 5-10 cm. Spacing between plants 15 cm. It typically appears for sale in spring.

Care: in winter it is necessary to protect from dampness or to dig up and store in a cool dry place. In summer the soil should be kept moist, but avoid waterlogging. Mulching the plantings is desirable.

Propagation: by division in early spring and by seed. Propagation is not difficult. Shallow in the ground whole clumps of pseudobulbs form; these are divided and planted 3-4 per small pots at first, and then potted into larger containers.

Uses: an excellent plant for a greenhouse or for an alpine rock garden.