Habenaria radiata - worth growing?
 

While dreaming through the spring bulb catalogs I found that Dutch Bulbs
(www.dutchbulbs.com) is offering Egret flowers (Habenaria radiata) at 2
corms for $10.00. They rate this for zones 5-10.

Is anyone growing this in their flower patch? I have a nice stand of pink
and white Bletillas that are nice flowers, not great but nice. I thought
this might be a nice addition to my outdoor orchid collection.

I'm wondering how long the flowers last and how hardy they seem to be for
other growers.

Good growing,
Gene

Gene Schurg wrote:
While dreaming through the spring bulb catalogs I found that Dutch
Bulbs
(www.dutchbulbs.com) is offering Egret flowers (Habenaria radiata) at
2
corms for $10.00. They rate this for zones 5-10.

Is anyone growing this in their flower patch? I have a nice stand of
pink
and white Bletillas that are nice flowers, not great but nice. I
thought
this might be a nice addition to my outdoor orchid collection.

I'm wondering how long the flowers last and how hardy they seem to be
for
other growers.

It's an interesting miniature, but it's not going to light up a
flowerbed. I think it would be better suited to pot culture. I've
grown it on several occasions and have had difficulty getting it
through the winter. The first time I lost my dormant plants, I had
previously given seed to a friend for flasking. The flasked seedlings
grew well and bloomed their second year out of flask, but then slowly
dwindled away over several winters. I think it dislikes wet conditions
while dormant. Perhaps a cool dry dormancy would be better.

Hi Gene,

I, too, may try this again. I purchased a couple from Dutch bulbs last
year; set them out in the flower bed; and the crows ate them in one day
despite a cage to prevent the same.

.. . . Pam
Everything Orchid Management System
http://home.earthlink.net/~profpam/page3.html
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

wrote:

Gene Schurg wrote:


While dreaming through the spring bulb catalogs I found that Dutch


Bulbs


(www.dutchbulbs.com) is offering Egret flowers (Habenaria radiata) at


2


corms for $10.00. They rate this for zones 5-10.

Is anyone growing this in their flower patch? I have a nice stand of


pink


and white Bletillas that are nice flowers, not great but nice. I


thought


this might be a nice addition to my outdoor orchid collection.

I'm wondering how long the flowers last and how hardy they seem to be


for


other growers.



It's an interesting miniature, but it's not going to light up a
flowerbed. I think it would be better suited to pot culture. I've
grown it on several occasions and have had difficulty getting it
through the winter. The first time I lost my dormant plants, I had
previously given seed to a friend for flasking. The flasked seedlings
grew well and bloomed their second year out of flask, but then slowly
dwindled away over several winters. I think it dislikes wet conditions
while dormant. Perhaps a cool dry dormancy would be better.