Species Orchid, Ground Orchid, Large Purple Orchid, Pleated Leaf Spathoglottis

Just bought 2 of these for $3.00 each on the sale cart at Lowe's in Gainesville, FL. Saw "ground orchid" and pleated leaves and thought I...Read More was getting Chinese bletilla, of which I have a few growing in the ground here. Closer view showed these to be Spathoglottix Plicata. These seem to be tropical, and unlike bletilla, will not overwinter here in zone 9a due to occasional freezes. They're listed as invasive in tropical areas here:
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This won't be a problem for me. I'll keep them potted, and the winter freezes should mop up any seed pods that escape.

I just bought this plant 4 days ago (only $6.98 for a 1.27 gallon pot at Walmart!).It is beautiful! I have been looking for one for year...Read Mores. The.tag in the plant container said it needed 4-8 hours of sun a day, so I put it in an area where it gets almost 7 hours of sun daily. Well, THAT'S TOO MUCH SUN!!! At least it is here in southwest Florida (zone 10a). When I went out to my garden this afternoon, I noticed a few of the leaves have burned after only 4 days. I guess I should have checked Dave's Garden's Plant Files first! Lesson learned. The plant is in bloom and has many more unopened buds..The flowers are a bright magenta color which contrasts beautifully with it's long, medium green leaves. Unfortunately, I bought it towards the end of it's blooming period (that's probably why it was so inexpensive).I am a bit concerned about what I have read in a few of my Florida gardening books...that it's leaves turn an unsightly yellowish/brown color in the winter. Any suggestions on how to handle this? Should I cut back the discolored leaves when this happens or do I leave them alone? I will update this post in the future after I have more experience with it. Until then, I am so excited about the latest addition to my small garden! :)

I loved the look of this plant and so bought several, but the winter must have been tough on them, because half didn't come back at all, ...Read Moreand those that did haven't bloomed. From your comments, it sounds like I needed to be more vigilant about watering them where I planted them in the yard. We had a colder than usual winter (for the 21st century, anyway) here in Big Bend Florida, so that may have done them in. Wish I could have more success; I'm trying curcuma this year.

I live in sw fl and had the plant in full sun; seemed too much. So i moved it to partial shade. The foliage appears better, however, i c...Read Morean't get it to bloom. Any suggestions for a fertilizer?