18/06/2026
A few months ago we shared a photo of a ground orchid we saw at Hunte's Garden (Barbados) — the first photo here 🌸
Someone commented that it looked like Bletilla, and another person replied: “That is not a Bletilla, it is a Spathoglottis.”
They were right. The first photo is the Philippine Ground Orchid, generally known as Spathoglottis plicata.
The second photo shows Bletilla striata, also known as the Chinese Ground Orchid, which we now supply.
They are both ground orchids, but they are not the same plant. Spathoglottis is more suited to warm, frost-free tropical and subtropical areas, while Bletilla striata grows more like a garden perennial and is better suited to cooler, temperate and protected part-shade gardens.
Bletilla can also be grown in some warmer areas, including protected subtropical gardens, but it needs a little more care — filtered light, good airflow, compost-rich free-draining soil, and moisture while actively growing without sitting wet.
It is a lovely option for pots, shaded borders, woodland-style gardens and protected garden beds.
Supplied as a dormant plant/rhizome, so it may not look like much at first, but once it settles in it can produce pleated green foliage and soft pink to mauve orchid-like flowers.
Bletilla striata — Chinese Ground Orchid — is available now at Oldboy’s Flowers.
And if you’d like to see our Hunte’s Gardens adventure, head over to our reels.
