An early summer species that is reliable and easy to grow is Bletilla striata.

This is one of our coolest growing species today, a hardy species from China, Korea and Japan.- Bletilla striata can be grown as a garden plant but we keep in in our temperate section with a minimum of 6C.

We grow this species in pots  in a terrestrial mix of soil based compost, composted bark and grit. The species becomes dormant in the winter and we stop watering until the spring when the new leaves emerge followed by the delicate flowers on thin stems.