A month or so ago there was a garage sale at the home of keen gardeners in the neighbourhood. It turned out that both of them had suffered declines in their health, and the house was about to be sold. That was very sad, as they were not particularly old (in their 70s), and their garden has been wonderful. The front yard is full of unusual bulbs which give a year-round display of interesting flowers. At the sale we discovered that at the back of the block was a huge orchid house, with hundreds of different orchids. The orchids weren't for sale, though.
Since the garage sale, unsold and unwanted items have been appearing on the nature strip as the children of the couple empty the property (which has now been sold and will probably be turned into multiple townhouses). Various plants and bits and pieces have found their way to our place. One pot came home because it had interesting-looking green shoots coming up. We didn't know what they were, but a few days ago we noticed magenta-coloured buds had formed. And then, as they grew, they looked a lot like they were turning into orchid flowers:
And they are!
It turns out the pot is full of beautiful Chinese ground orchids,
Bletilla striata.
1 comment:
They are stunning!! So glad you rescued them.
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