Bletilla striata

[Fairorchids]

I have it recorded as being hardy in zones 6a-9, and OK in zone 5 with heavy mulching.

Here in NJ (near Newark, probably 6b), I have never mulched them, and they do fine despite the occasional night times down to 5-10F.

[Afid]

Wow, they are more hardy than I thought, still not enough to handle the -20f (or colder some years) winter where I am though.

[Fairorchids]

Forgot to post photo in previous post.

[Selmo]

Here we wish it only got down to 5-10f for a low. We have weeks where that is the high temps. Tried growing them in a corner where one wall faced south and the other faced west. Thinking that it would create a micro-climate, that would be slightly warmer. Apparently we have to many cloudy days for that to work. The white variety did do better than the purple variety.
We do have piss poor soil around here, 15 miles north, east or west, there’s 20 feet of dark black topsoil. But here, the glaciers deposited nothing but clay. The well water around here is full of sulfur and not many people use it, even for livestock. But back in the day (1880s), people used to come from all over to bath in it. There used to be a big resort here in town, that had a sulfur spring, where people would try to cure what ailed them.
PS: Kim, That is a nice clump of plants in your photo

[Selmo]

The weather has been up and down here. Have had two days over 85F and three day in a row with the low under 25F. Did a number on the magnolias, peaches, and pear trees. Had to put the striatas in the greenhouse for a week, but they are back out now. Hopefully no more freezing temperatures

[DirtyCoconuts]

They are tough little MFers. Mine still has 9 flowering spikes, has lost all its last season growth leaves and already has four new growths. It’s April.....

Lol

[Herrania]

How do these handle winters that are rainy between freezes? Would they poke their heads up and pause like my Dactylorhizas, or would they rot or otherwise die?