Orchids You Can Grow in Your Yard
Right outside my office window, I’m lucky to have the Chinese Ground Orchid, Beltilla striata, poking its pretty pink head out of the lush foliage. This particular orchid is unlike the orchids you see at different retailers in that it is terrestrial (it grows in the ground) rather than an epiphyte (one that grows on trees) as most orchids are. The flower, which can be pink or white (variety ‘alba’) is very similar to a miniature Cattleya flower.
Chinese Ground Orchids have a light, pleasant fragrance and can naturalize if given the right growing conditions. We grow them in a protected valley-like area here where they are in part shade almost all day. Because zone 5 is the border of their natural growing climate, you’ll need to mulch them in for the winter to protect them from the extreme cold. They like rich, organic soil and need to be fairly moist throughout the summer. Given these conditions, you’ll be rewarded with a over a month of blooms in the early summer! Enjoy!
Posted by Cynthia Druckenbrod
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May 8th, 2009 at 10:46 am
Thank you for the growing hints! Purchased some of these in Florida last winter, to plant in my wildflower garden. Looks like they’ll do fine where I want to put them. I might bring them in for the winter, though. I have a “greenhouse” in the basement, where it’s around 65 degrees or so and they’ll be under lights. Would that work? I’m afraid I’ll lose them if I leave them outside.