When I left for the Island last Sunday, these were still tightly closed up. It always makes me happy when they bloom because they are so gorgeous. Bletilla striata is commonly known as a Chinese Ground Orchid, or a Hardy Ground Orchid. Many years ago I tried these in pots, back at the condo; I wasn’t successful. but they seem to have found a happy place in my mostly shady garden, tucked against a big rock and sheltered by a massive hosta behind it. There is a white form as well, but I prefer the little shock of fuschia it an otherwise mostly green and structured landscape. There is something so tropical about them, despite the fact that they are a temperate plant.
