Fringed Orchid - Orange

Ease to Grow: ModerateDormancy: RequiredNative Range: Peat Bogs of Eastern North AmericaZones: 4-9 (3-10) Orange Fringed Orchid, Platanthera ciliaris, is stunning in the summer bog garden. It has a large, bright orange cylindrical cluster of 30-75+ dainty flowers with showy, fringed lips and long spurs.  It is a late summer bloomer, and flowers last for a month or more. Leaves are long and lanceolate, reducing to small bracts with the flower cluster. Flower spikes are tall and benefit from staking, and protection from the wind. Best flowering occurs with plants in full sun, shade tends to reduce flower size and abundance. It is a bog plant which grows in open, acidic bogs with sphagnum moss, but is adaptable to drier, upland conditions, as long as the soil remains damp during flowering. It does best in wet conditions, and frequently sends out a stolon budding small plants. It is an adaptable and vigorous grower. Platanthera ciliaris seeds are very fine and can be a challenge to germina