Bletilla striata

The hyacinth orchid (more commonly called the Chinese ground orchid) is perhaps the easiest of all hardy orchids to grow... though it isn't really hardy in my region! These are hardy to zone 5; I live in zone 3 but people in my area have grown them successfully against the house like a clematis; if it gets really cold though (like -40 C as it sometimes does), the plant is screwed either way so I just dig them up and store them in the fridge in little bags over the winter. Unfortunately, they never naturalize or get very big this way, so I mass plant. This is the first to bloom in my garden. You can see my thumb for scale - you can hardly notice the tiny flowers in the garden unless you do mass plant. Up close they are very beautiful. the great thing about my climate is that I can plant these in full sun usually without scorching the leaves if they are well-watered. (I write this as it is 30 C/86 F outside right now!) I also have var. alba which has pure white flowers, though slower growing than the original.