Amitostigma keiskei

[Herrania]

I got these from Kusamono Gardens; I didn't know that they would start blooming almost immediately after coming up. They're so tiny!

I'm hoping they can take hot and dry summers, I might put some out under the Dactylorhiza.

[neophyte]

Wow, that is tiny!! I'm not sure what kind of summers they need; hopefully someone else can chime in. They're so charming! I recently found Kusamono Gardens as well; I might pre-order a couple plants for shipping next spring now...

[Ray]

That has been reclassified as Ponerorchis keiskei, and I think it’ll not survive the summer you describe.

IOSPE says “ Found on Honshu Island of Japan as a miniature sized, cold growing terrestrial or lithophyte and blooms in the spring.”

[estación seca]

I think this would do better on a windowsill than outside in your heat.

[Jeff214]

I was reading up on the care on Japanese sites (Iwachidori, common name):

-Kinki to shikoku area of japan, growing in valleys, between rocks. Southern Japan is hot and humid but it seems to imply these grow in higher elevation. Which may be much cooler.

-cold tolerant. heat tolerance is rated (so-so). "It is possible to care for them outside in hot areas"

-prefers moist but not damp.

- likes lots of aeration.

That info is mostly from a NHK (bascially like the BBC of Japan). Not sure how accurate that is.

[Roberta]

Those are really cute!

According to the Baker culture sheet (from Orchidwiz), the temperature range (given for Nagano) is 100 deg F (38 deg C) to 2 deg F (-17 deg C) . Based on that, I don't think that summer heat will be that much of a problem - they definitely need to be wet (bog plants). From those temperatures, I would also expect that they need a cold winter. In Idaho, it should be fine outside over the winter (perhaps cover with mulch) If I were to try to grow them, they'd have to go into the 'fridge for the winter. Keeping them damp seems to be the critical factor - bogs never dry out.