Peacock orchid?? Real orchid or not??
 

Good day. ^_^:waving

Many months ago my aunt bought privatecy hedges and some ground cover from a catalog. They sent her the stuff she had ordered and also peacock orchid croms and other seeds and bulbs.

So I've been trying to look up information on these peacock orchids and I can't find a defiant answer on wheather it is a orchid or its just the name and its something else.

Here is the other name some sights had with the common name. Gladiolus murielae

As the scientific name says, it's a gladiola. It's not an orchid but it's still a beautiful plant, especially when planted en masse.

If it is really Gladiolus murielae (also know as Gladiolus acidanthera, and before that Acidanthera bicolor) then it's not an orchid - Gladiolus are in the Iris familiy (Iridaceae). It's a nice flowering bulb, but has never reliably wintered over for us outdoors here in NW Arkansas in the past. (Maybe it would now that our winters are so much warmer.)

There are some true orchids sometimes called "peacock orchid" - I've seen both Pleione and Bletilla referred to that way - but less commonly.

Steve

If the scientific name you listed is correct, this is not an orchid. It is however, a very nice garden plant. It's in the iris family and belongs to a group of flowers commonly called "glads" which are very desirable garden plants. In your zone, you would have to dig the corm up in the fall and overwinter it inside.

wuness

To get gladiolas and other bulbs to winter over outside, layer about a foot of mulched leaves over the top of the bulbs before the first frost. This will insulate them until the warmth of spring. The more mulch over them the better insulated they are and better blooms in the spring.

Ooh. Thank you all. ^_^

I don't grow irises so I didn't really know. And I never thought of looking up the scientific name.

Once again. Thank you all. ^_^

Here's how you can tell the difference between a Gladiolus and Pleione, (which I too have seen being referred to as a "Peacock Orchid", specifically the species Pleione formosana)...

Gladiolus have a true corm. They are short and round. The corms resemble a mini pumpkin.

Here's a pic of a Gladioulus corm:

http://blog.weekend-gardening.com/wp...olus-bulbs.jpg

Pleiones are not true corms. They are actually a pseudobulb, and resembles one.

Here's a Pleione pseudobulb that I used to have:

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...formosana.html

The corms on mine didn't look like ether of them.
They looked like little acorns with out the caps.

Can you post a pic?

---------- Post added at 08:10 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:07 AM ----------

You mean like this?

Pleione formosana | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

They weren't green.

---------- Post added at 11:48 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:35 AM ----------

Leaves (don't mined the oak tree.)http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t...113924_988.jpg
Where the come out of the soil.
http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t...113933_128.jpg
The corm.
http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t...113825_430.jpg

---------- Post added at 11:55 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:48 AM ----------

Sorry for the unclear photo.