Bletilla : The ideal garden orchid !!!

Bletilla : The ideal garden orchid !!!

The Bletilla orchid, also known as the Hyacinth orchid, is the ideal garden orchid. Easy to grow, prolific, tolerant, resistant to drought, etc., it will delight beginners and/or lovers of beautiful flowerbeds.

Bletilla in a few words...

• Bletilla orchids are hardy in most climates (-20°C).

• They are very resistant to drought and summer heat.

• Very tolerant, they adapt to many types of soil (fertile, humus-rich, clayey, neutral or slightly acidic).

• It is one of the easiest terrestrial orchids to grow in pots...

• Great variety of different colours...

• Low maintenance plant...

• Evergreen foliage until late autumn.

• Very prolific, and after a few years will form attractive clumps...

• Large flowering stems (up to 80 cm for some varieties).

• Ideal planting period from September. 

Bletilla: A completely new range of colours...

Purple, white, blue, variegated, yellow, ochre, apricot flowers....The Bletilla genus offers an extremely wide range of colours.

Discover our entire range of colours here ....

Growing Bletilla orchids

Unlike most perennial orchids, which like cool, damp places, Hyacinth orchids (Bletilla) can stand full sun.

They are very prolific, and after a few years will form pretty clumps that can contain 20 to 30 flowering stems and can be up to 80 cm high. They are ideal for beginners and will thrive in sunny locations where other garden orchids cannot grow.

Bletilla orchids survive as underground bulbs during the winter dormancy period. The bulbs will develop new shoots from April onwards. A cluster of long leaves then appears. The flowers appear during the summer, 6 to 10 in number, borne in loose spikes along the flowering stem.

After having brightened up the garden for about a month, the flowers disappear, but not the foliage. At least not right away; the foliage only fades in November. The plant then disappears completely from your view and its pseudo-bulb goes dormant until the following spring.

A humus-rich, light, well-drained soil is preferred.

A fertiliser rich in potassium will ensure that the reserves are replenished and that the plant will flower better the following year. This can be done during the vegetation phase.