Calanthe discolor Perennial Garden Orchid by Phytesia

Calanthe discolor is one of our top Perennial Garden Orchids at Phytesia. This hardy orchid is part of the Calanthe family.

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Orchid: Calanthe discolor

Calanthe discolor

This garden orchid is part of Phytesia’s Trendy garden series and comes packed in a 1 liter container, flowering size plant, 1-2 shoots. The Calanthe discolor will flourish into a Brown flower from May to June up to 30-50 cm. This Half-Hardy (-10°C) orchid will survive the winter if you leave it in a Semi-shade location of your garden.

❀ range: Trendy garden
❀ flowering: June
❀ height: 30-50 cm
❀ exposure: Semi-shade
❀ hardiness: Half-Hardy (-10°C)
❀ presentation: 1 liter container, flowering size plant, 1-2 shoots
❀ color: Brown

Calanthe discolor features

The Calanthe Orchids

Calanthe is a popular, generally winter-blooming genus aptly named from the Greek words kalos (beautiful) and anthe (flower). Apart from its beautiful flowers, the genus is famous because J. Dominy used it to make the first artificial orchid hybrid (Calanthe Dominyi) in the early 1850’s. The genus is allied to Phaius and Gastrorchis.

There are 2 subgenera with distinctly different growth and flowering habits; Preptanthe (the evergreen calanthes) and Eucalanthe (the deciduous calanthes). Plants belonging to the subgenus Preptanthe are tropical to cold growing terrestrials consisting of a basal rosette of leaves and without pseudobulbs. Inflorescences are produced from the center of the leaf rosette. This group includes such species as C. triplicata and C. striata from Taiwan to Korea. Japanese growers are breeding their native species to create highly floriferous and beautiful calanthes which can be grown in USDA zone 6b to zone 11 gardens.
Eucalanthe species are characterized by prominent pseudobulbs curiously constricted about two-thirds of the way up the pseudobulb. Species in this group are winter-deciduous and inflorescences are produced from near the base of the leafless pseudobulbs.

Evergreen (Preptanthe) and deciduous (Eucalanthe) calanthes do not interbreed and may be separate genera.

Potting: Eucalanthe: Separate the individual pseudobulbs after blooming and before soft new growth in the spring. (Two-year old pseudobulbs will wither and rot.) Roots die off during the winter. Use a moisture retentive terrestrial-type potting mix which can include fir bark, sphagnum moss, or peat moss and other organic matter. They also do well with semi-hydroponic culture using Leca type growth media in plastic containers. Do not water the plants until after new growths begin to produce roots to prevent rotting the new growths. Pseudobulbs are extremely brittle and may snap in two during repotting. Broken-off tops can be made to produce new growths by drying them overnight and then lay them horizontally on top of sphagnum moss or other potting media.

Preptanthe: Cold to cool growing evergreen calanthes perform their best planted outdoors in garden soil in areas USDA zone 6b to zone 11. They will also do well in pots growing in an organic potting media if allowed to get sufficiently cool during winter months. The tropical species should be grown under intermediate to hot conditions year around.

Garden Orchids from Phytesia

Since 2003, Phytesia provides a wide range of hardy orchids for the garden.

We selected dozens of varieties, providing a wide range of colors, sizes or flowering periods. Moreover, our range is expanding every month and we regularly offer new varieties.

Our offer includes hardy varieties resistant to the strongest winters (-20 ° C to -30 ° C) (Cypripedium, Dactylorhiza, Epipactis, Bletilla …) and semi-hardy varieties supporting light frosts (-10 ° C) ( Calanthe, Pleione …) particularly suited for growing in pots or the Mediterranean climate.

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