Northwest Blooms · Perennials
Pleione 'Tongariro'
Tongariro Hardy Orchid
- Family
- Orchidaceae
- Height
- 5 to 8 inches
- Width
- 5 to 6 inches
- Flower color
- Violet pink to fuchsia pink with red or purple markings on the lip
- Foliage color
- Green deciduous leaves
- Bloom time
- Mid to late spring
- Light
- Partial sun to partial shade
- Water
- Average moisture
- Maintenance
- Low; protect from severe winter wet and divide pseudobulbs to propagate
- Growing zone
- USDA zones 8 to 10
- Wildlife
- Not noted for attracting wildlife
About this plant
Pleione 'Tongariro' is a compact orchid that grows in the ground rather than on trees, admired for luminous violet pink petals and a broad white lip marked with golden and crimson patterning. Flowers open in mid to late spring before full leaf expansion, each bloom carried singly and held with gentle poise above the emerging foliage, bringing refined detail to alpine style containers and sheltered woodland displays.
Pleated green leaves rise from rounded pseudobulbs after flowering, followed by summer growth and a winter rest as dormant bulbs. The selection was made in New Zealand from Himalayan parentage, reflecting mountain origins adapted to cool seasonal rhythms and clear spring flowering.
Works well in
Borders · Shade Gardens · Woodland Gardens · Rain Gardens · Rock Gardens
Companion plants
Ferns · Lungworts · Wild ginger · Hellebores · Japanese forest grass · Astilbes
Design tip
The early flowers arrive when the garden is still waking up, so give it a spot you pass often in spring. Keep it out of hot afternoon sun and layer it with woodland companions for a full, settled look.
Where to see it
This plant can be seen at Heronswood Garden.
