This genus has the honor of including the first tropical orchid introduced to culture—Bletia verecunda, which reached England in 1731. Not that orchids weren't known before that time; many English gardeners were familiar with their native terrestrial orchids, including the generally insignificant Orchis and Epipactus, now commonly known as the Marsh Orchid and Hellborine.

Bletia verecunda did not create the excitement and wild speculation which were stirred up some ten years later by vanilla and the lovelier exotics. It was a new plant, however, and it stimulated botanists who were then just beginning to achieve a mild sort of understanding of the confusing interrelationships among flowering plants. They named the plant after Louis Blet, a Spanish botanist, whose fame now rests largely on the fact that his name was given to this orchid family.

There is nothing difficult about growing bletias, and one wonders why these lovely and adaptable terrestrials aren't grown more frequently. A native of Florida, as well as the West Indies, where it was originally discovered, Bletia verecunda is hardy in any section of the country where there is no snow. Bletia hyacinthina—now called Bletilla striata—comes from the Chinese steppes and has been naturalized in America as far north as Boston. The gaudier bletias from the tropics of Central and South America are, unfortunately, somewhat more temperamental, although they are not true hothouse subjects. They can be grown freely and vigorously in cold frames and window gardens if care is exercised to prevent frostbite.

All bletias have arching, palmlike, deciduous foliage produced from flattened, cormlike pseudobulbs. The flower spikes range from twelve inches for the Chinese bletia to two feet for the others. The flowers, while small —an inch or so across—are perfect miniature orchids in shape; the colors are limited to rose, lilac, purple, and white.

Of all orchids, the easiest to start with indoors, outdoors, or in greenhouses—because you can't fail—is Bletia hyacinthina. If you can grow daffodils, you can grow this orchid. In the East it seems to thrive in moist, cool, slightly shady locations, where it quickly forms large clumps, which year in and year out send up stalks of pinkish-lavender flowers at the beginning of summer. In the Pacific Southwest it is grown in full sun without any apparent injury. It seems to be an adaptable orchid; it is, certainly, the most tolerant one. Even though you may treat it rather badly and neglect it occasionally, it will still bloom.

The other bletias have more exacting requirements. They need some winter warmth and a reasonable amount of sunlight. The two loveliest ones, Bletia shepardü from Jamaica and Bletia sherrattiana from Colombia, bloom in summer and can be started in cold frames much the same as you would start tuberous begonias. They can be transplanted outdoors after all danger of frost is past.

Any well-drained soil will suit bletias, although a little humus (leafmold and manure) dug into the ground is a potent method of inducing sturdier plants and better flowers. As pot subjects bletias can't be beaten. They handle as easily as gladioli, whose corms their pseudobulbs resemble, even reproducing themselves similarly. Propagation is by separation of the small, cormlike pseudobulbs. For growing them in pots, there is no better compost than the standard leafmold and decomposed granite mixture described in Chapter 8. You can also add a bit of manure mixed with the compost in the bottom third of the pot. Then add plain leafmold and gravel.

Start bletias in flats of peat or leafmold, as you would gloxinias or tuberous begonias, keeping the flats slightly moist. Push the pseudobulbs about halfway into the compost. Be sure to provide some shade; unless left in the open continuously, the new growth is somewhat light-sensitive. When the shoots and roots first appear, lift out the pseudobulbs and pot them. Don't overpot. In fact, bletias do better if underpotted. Tropical bletias are rarely planted more than one to a pot, since their foliage is heavy. The Chinese bletia, whose leaves are on the skimpy side, may be clumped effectively. While the plants are actively growing, water may be applied liberally.

After flowering, bletias lose their leaves. This is the dormant period during which they store up energy and reproduce themselves, getting ready for a larger splurge of flowering growths. Slack off on water until the leaves drop off; then dry out the pots. Tip them on their sides and leave them under a bench until the following spring. If you wish, you can remove the pseudobulbs, brush off the dirt, and store them in boxes of sand as you would store dahlia tubers. However, if they are left in pots or in the ground as long as possible, the pseudobulbs will keep better and will produce more vigorous growths the next season.

Are You Ready To Move Onto The Next Lesson? Click Here...