The flower of a Bamboo Orchid. (image source: Wikipedia)
My blogger friend Africanaussie suggested that I use Ixora, a plant that doesn't mind aggressive trimming to keep it maintained. I so much appreciate the suggestion and I pondered about using it as well. My only problem with Ixora is that it's a very common plant in the country. Almost every garden, large or small has at least one to a point that almost nobody cares about it anymore.
Young Bamboo Orchids with other young plants in the nursery.
The Bamboo Orchid (Arundina graminifolia) is not a native to the country. It was an introduced species and although it's quite popular it's not yet widely cultivated.
This ground orchid's reedy stems and grass-like leaves give its bamboo-like structure. It has a clumping habit so growing out of control or invading other spaces is not a big problem. The significant sized flowers develop at the top of the stem. This, I thought would be a good candidate plant to put in between the Triangle palms at the entrance to the farm.
More young Arundinas in the nursery.
Since we're on a very tight budget these days, buying is not a good option. So, I asked Mom if she could try to propagate them from our one and only clump of Bamboo Orchid. And off she went separating some of the offsets from the mother plant, individually putting each on separate black plastic bags. Those with significant roots she planted directly to the ground.
Mom thought these two are old enough to be planted to the ground.
The young plants shown on the three pictures above are either just two or three weeks old. And judging from their appearance they seem to be doing well. However, it might take several months (or years) before they grow to a significant height and volume and produce flowers. But as I have been slowly and painfully learning the hard way, all I can do (again) is wait. And waiting is torture to an impatient person like me.
5 comments:
Oh that sound like a good choice, especially if you already have the plants and only have to subdivide. I agree that ixora is sometimes overused, but can easily be planted in an area where there is no irrigation, and flowers for much of the year. You might be interested to see the video on permaculture that I posted today. It shows lots of uses for coconuts!
Solitude Rising, thank you very much for the kind mention about me. I love Arundina as it is a lovely wild orchid but I'm afraid the foliage is quite sparse and won't be able to fill up the empty spaces in between. They usually plant it as a specimen plant is some part of the garden as a showpiece. If you need a bush or trimed hedge, perhaps you can use hibiscus rosa sinensis. The single petal ones can be trimmed and shaped while the flowers of the double petal variety look like rose bushes. Hibiscus attracts a lot of butterflys which are beneficial pollinators. Another easy maintainance plant is cat whiskers if you want a ground cover or low height border plant. Cat whiskers attract butterflies and bees too because these are native plants in our region. Also, how about the spider lily which is very exotic looking. It can give your garden a resort like sytle.
Hello Africanaussie,
I have not completely ruled out using Ixora. There are other locations where they can be utilized. I'll definitely check your new post. It sounds interesting indeed.
----------
Hello Autumn Belle,
Any good write up is worth mentioning especially if they're educational and informative.
I do realize the growing habit of the Arundina, that's why I found it interesting. So I thought they'll stand out between the palms especially when they begin to bloom.
The spaces between and behind the palms are quite wide enough to accommodate more plants so I still have to think of what other plants would be good to use. So thanks for your suggestions, they are all good. I think the spider lilies would be good to place in front of the wall.
Are bamboo orchids real orchids? They look like a good choice. I think waiting comes with the territory. All gardeners have to endure waiting. You can ask Andrea if she knows how to force the blooms. She's been able to do it before.
Hello Bom,
This plant blooms twice a year, early and late. Since they're still young I don't expect them to bloom any time soon.
I agree, waiting is part of the game a gardener must learn to play...LOL
As for whether its a true orchid I too am not sure. Maybe Andrea knows, this is her area of expertise.
Post a Comment