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Key characteristics

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

Perennials

Pleione 'Tongariro'

Tongariro Hardy Orchid

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.

Light

Partial sun to partial shade

Water

Average moisture

Bloom time

Mid to late spring

Find this plant

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.