Red-purple Garden Orchid ❀ Pleione Tongariro ✿ 3-4 bulbs

Planting

Tolerating only light frost (-10°C), these orchids will not be able to be kept in the garden in regions with harsh winters. We recommend, at least in those regions, to cultivate them in a pot in order to winter them away from strong frost. Be sure however to select a large enough pot (diameter 20cm) in order to avoid impeding the development of the new peripheral bulbs.

These orchids are highly tolerant with regard to their substrate. You can keep them in peat-based substrate.

Exposure

The ideal exposure will be semi-shaded. A site in the sun is not excluded but then take care to keep the substrate wet as from the spring and during the entire summer.

Growth phase...

During the winter, the plant is at total rest and only the bulb persists. Keep it dry and sheltered from severe frost during the entire winter period until the resumption of growth at the end of the winter.

At the beginning of spring, when the bulbs start to germinate, moisten the substrate very slightly.

The young Pleione shoots develop in march-april and flower in the spring. After flowering, the plant continues to develop its foliage and to mature its bulbs. Come the autumn, Pleione go into their winter dormancy, and the leaves yellow, fade and disappear.

Over the years, the bulbs divide to form increasingly large masses.