Shade Gardening: woodland orchids, 1 by Weerobin

Weerobin wrote:
I had been afraid of trying to grow woodland orchids, mainly because they sounded too fussy.
But I've found several to be pretty reliable, so I wanted to share my experience so others might dive in and try them too.
I've had consistent luck with bletilla, though sometimes a varmint will cut the bloom before it flowers.
But it has survived and multiplied over the past several years. #1 is bletilla 'Kate'.
I have several other cultivars as well.
Calanthe has also been reliable for me over the past 5 years. Most aren't hardy here, but a few are (#2).
Cypripedium has such a reputation for fussiness, I hesitated for years to try it.
But mine has done well for many years now (#3). I now have 4 or 5 varieties.
Finally, dactylorrhizum is another Chinese orchid which has done 'OK' (#4).
It has only bloomed about every other year and isn't looking super robust, so the jury is still out.
I've got a couple other species too young to know about yet, but I'm interested to see how they do.
They don't require special care, just good humousy woodland soil with good drainage.



This message was edited Jun 9, 2013 4:39 PM