April 20, 2018 – Bletilla striata – often called ‘Hardy Orchid’

         Yesterday we had an air conditioner service man come by to see about a repair and on one side of my outside unit is a patch of Bletilla striata.  They have been there for years and years.  I hate to admit that when I planted them I put in six bulbs and they haven’t been divided in 18 years.  They have grown to fill the patch and every spring they are breathtaking.

         I have meant to divide them many times, yet I usually run out of steam.  I never did find out when is the proper time to lift and divide so, I was hesitant and used that as the excuse to do nothing.  Then, the next spring – they gave me a brilliant display and I pushed it from my mind again.

When service people walk on the rectangular patch in off-season, I have a poorer showing the following spring.  Additionally, our late frosts nip the tips of the pleated leaves and later they look like someone took a pair of pinking shears to them.  In the past, I have successfully warded off the frost by turning over a galvanized washtub over the plants that are up about 6 to 8 inches.  This works extremely well if  we know there is a pending freeze or frost.  Often we don’t know that.  Even if the leaves are nipped, you still get a lovely bloom.

Yesterday I had to sound the alarm to a horticultural friend – she is an expert and a treasure of a gardening friend.  She has always admired the Bletilla when they are in bloom and has mentioned often, “When you divide, could you give me some?”

Not knowing when the air conditioning man was coming back and the weather being fair, I started to dig them out.  OH MY!  What a project.  The six bulbs had turned into a solid mat of tubers.  Some had green stems and others had a concentric ring with brown rootlets.  They were not easily pried apart. Some of the plants were up 6 to 8 inches and a few had come into bloom. 

They had to be moved yesterday and immediately.  I chipped the bed out by shovelfuls and knocked off much of the soil and lined the bottom of two wheelbarrows which I covered with beach towels to keep the sun off them and rolled them into the shade.   Then I ended up with a 3-gallon plastic pot filled with additional tubers that did not have any green growth.  I gave away half of what I dug up and today, I dug in clumps all around the yard - in sun, in shade - all kinds of places.  Should be interesting next spring.

I am not sure if the tubers with no growth will eventually leaf out – I saved them. And potted them up – I am hoping for foliage. 

Below is a wonderful youtube site that shows you how to lift and divide and he suggests you keep all the bulbs, even the ones without sems as they will also come along.  So, we will see if that is correct.

\https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tExij9XX4Z8

Also See: ttps:/en.wikipedia.org/w/index.phptitle=Bletilla&oldid=831944786

Happy gardening to you.