THIS week Id like to talk about a most unusual orchid, commonly called the bat flower.
A truly exquisite plant from the yam family and grown for its bizarre flowers.
Black or white flowering plants are available, though a rarer green one is sometimes sought after.
Growing bat flowers is an unusual way to have a novelty plant, both indoors as well as outdoors.
The flowers mimic a bat in flight with the black variety being the closest to reality.
There are so many parts to this flower that give go to making up its appearance, deep purple with ruffled wings and long hanging filaments together with large green leaves that surround the bloom.
It probably needs more care than the ordinary orchid, with some finding that they take a while to flower.
A lot depends on how they are looked after and the conditions in which they are grown. Probably not for the impatient gardener.
It is recommended that these plants are an indoor/outdoor plant but don’t like it too cold or too hot. So, one would have to be careful where it was located.
It’s a fast-growing plant and yearly repotting is advised as they don’t like to be root bound.
Trim the roots every year and pop it back in a larger pot.
It’s said that larger plants do better, and the soil must always remain slightly moist but never soggy.
It’s maybe a plant that you have to experiment with so try different areas in your garden for the best growing places.
Google says that it can flower up to eight times in a season, but like most plants this will vary depending on the care and attention it receives.
It seems that there are different versions of care for this plant, and some may find that what works for one may not work for the other, so maybe a bit of common sense regarding their care is really what you need.
There is also the white variety. They are not cheap, but can be sourced online or on Gumtree, maybe even Facebook.
Trying different plants may give you a whole new perspective on gardening.
As the weeks go by this column will try to inform you of things that go on in the gardening world, plants that you might like to try and some easy plants to grow for those who are time poor and those that just want to plant, water, and forget about.
Till next time.
