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Bog Orchidous And Insectivorous Plants |
Bletilla hyacinthina is fairly well known, being often grown
in the border. It greatly dislikes a lot of moisture in the
winter and should therefore be carefully sited. It has chan-
nelled leaves and from May onwards, produces rich pink
flowers on fifteen- to eighteen-inch stems.
Calopogon pulchellus is a beautiful North American orchid
thriving in partial shade and sandy peat. It has grass-like
foliage and slender twelve- to fifteen-inch spikes of rose-purple
flowers, each with a little yellow beard.
Calypso borealis is a rare plant liking a shady, moist but
well-drained position. In May and June it has, on four- to six-
inch stems, rather small, purplish-yellow flowers.
Cypripedium. This group of orchids, flowering in May and
June, has always had a fascination for plant lovers probably
because the culture of some of the species does present a chal-
lenge. They can best be grown in partial shade in a moist,
peaty position, while they do appreciate regular top dressings
of sphagnum moss. They can be increased by division of the
underground runners in September or October, or perhaps a
better time is in early spring, when new growth is starting.
Among the best of the cypripediums are the following.
C. arietinum, with tiny whitish flowers on six-inch stems.
C. guttatum, white flowers heavily blotched purple.
C. humile, often known as acaule, produces a solitary flower
on each nine-inch stem. The colour is rosy-purple with green
sepals.
C. parviflorum grows twelve to eighteen inches high, some-
times more. The colour is rich yellow spotted brown, the
petals and sepals being twisted.
C. pubescens is sometimes known as the Downy, Lady's
Slipper, having leafy stems twelve to eighteen inches high and
handsome greenish-yellow, purple-marked flowers.
C. spectabile (or Reginae) is one of the loveliest of all hardy
orchids. It has large leaves and twelve- to twenty-inch high
leafy stems, bearing one to three flowers. The sepals and
petals are clear white, the inflated pouch, being prettily
marked with rose and crimson.
Epipactis like sun and moisture, with an abundance of leaf
mould around the roots. They flower in June.
E. palustris growing eighteen inches high has whitish
flowers marked pinkish-purple.
E. royleana is greenish-brown marked purplish-violet.
Goodyera is useful because of its variegated foliage. G.
pubescens has white flowers and G. repens creamy-white.
Habenaria is the name of a very large genus closely related
to the orchids.
H. bijolia is the Butterfly Orchid, which in June and July
has yellowish-white flowers on twelve-inch stems. It is noted
for its scent which is particularly pleasant after a shower of
rain.
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