11 Orchids With Nearly Constant Blooms

Orchids, with their exotic flowers in spectacular shapes and colors, have a long history of cultivation and variations in growth and blooming. The gardener’s reward for perfecting the care of the particular beauties is their lovely flowers and lengthy bloom time, as some varieties show color for months on end. 

Many orchids have the natural flowering cycle of once a year (like many of our favorite plants), while others experience constant blooms or hold their petals long on the stem. Easy-care species often rebloom in optimal growing conditions.

A healthy orchid lives for decades, blooming year after year and potentially multiple times a year. Their preferred cultural conditions are primary to healthy growing and flowering initiation.

Orchid Overview

Depending on your type of orchid, care requirements may be very specific. There are also lots of species that are more easygoing. With nearly 900 genera and tens of thousands of species and hybrids, the selection is diverse and teeming with specimens to add to your collection.

Terrestrial (ground orchids) root in the soil. Epiphytic types absorb moisture and nutrients through the air and live in the tree canopy of their native environments, while lithophytes dwell in rock crevices. Orchids occur across the globe, with the greatest variety from tropical Asia, where rainforest conditions give way to drenching rain cycles and drying out periods. Others are native to varying environments, including most parts of the U.S.

While it varies, most orchids need bright, indirect light to bloom. Other cultural conditions to consider are temperature, water, and air circulation. Most orchids need a difference in daytime and nighttime temperatures to bloom, with 10°F cooler at night. Take care not to overwater – while orchids are tropical plants, they don’t do well in overly damp potting media. Lastly, ensure roots have good air circulation and room in the pot.

For most orchids, light, temperature, and water are essential to flowering. Fertilizing, repotting, and care after the orchid blooms are also key considerations to maintain constant flowers.

Epidendrum ‘Purple Reed’

This evergreen terrestrial orchid from tropical America is floriferous year-round. It produces tall stems that hold ball clusters of rich purple one-inch blooms. Each leafy spike may have 30 or more buds.

Epidendrum ‘Purple Reed’ benefits from moist, humusy, well-draining soils. It grows beautifully under tree canopy and even tolerates partial sun in cool environments. It tolerates brief cold snaps down to 25°F (-4°C).

The sturdy stems develop keikis (Hawaiian for babies) over time. Clip these when they develop two to four-inch roots for transplanting to expand the collection.

Spathoglottis ‘Mellow Yellow’

Spathoglotti orchids are capable of display constant blooms year-round in areas where they are happiest. The easy-care specimens do well in moist soils with good drainage and overwinter indoors. They feature large, colorful, long-lasting blossoms.

‘Mellow Yellow’ is a terrestrial grower with a tropical flare. The pale, lemony petals are wide and have delicate rose-purple tinges and golden centers with a rich rose-colored labellum (the pollinator-attracting feature of the central column). 

Ribbed, strappy leaves are dark green and form an attractive foundation for the flowering spikes.

Paphiopedilum ‘Pinocchio’

The Venus lady slipper is a genus with wild blooms and captivating details. The long-blooming performers are mostly terrestrial and relatively easy to care for despite their exotic appearance.  

‘Pinocchio’ is a hybrid cross of two species orchids, P. glaucophyllum and P. primulinum, both known for their long bloom times and robust growth. It features sequential blooming, with buds that open over a long period on a single spike.

‘Pinocchio’ blooms have a speckled rosy pink pouch, a flared green dorsal sepal (hood), and slender, flared side petals with burgundy spots. It’s a vigorous hybrid with a compact habit and easy-care nature. This one holds Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden Merit status.

Vanda ‘Pachara Delight’

Vanda boasts large, fragrant, true blue flowers and prolific, all-season blooming in their optimal tropical and subtropical climes. While sometimes challenging to maintain outside of these conditions, orchid enthusiasts are happy to accept the test for the rewards the genus brings.

Vandas have extensive root systems and grow naturally in trees and sometimes rocks. These (and many others) are well-suited to containers and hanging baskets that provide good aeration for epiphytic roots.

‘Pachara Delight’ is a good starter Vanda. It has broad, rounded violet petals with soft, slightly frilled edges. ‘Sansai Blue’ is a compact hybrid with lavender-blue to deep purple tissuey blooms with white speckles.

Cymbidium ‘Valentine’s Love’

Cymbidiums may flower two or more times per year in fall, winter, and spring. These are easy to grow and make wonderful houseplants. They bloom in various colors, from white to apricot to dark red, in dense clusters on stout stems.

‘Valentine’s Love’ is a hybrid that blooms in the fall but can repeat flower. It doesn’t require temperature changes or special conditions to initiate the bloom cycle. 

‘Valentine’s Love’ has pale green petals, a white and gold throat, and scarlet labellum. The plants produce multiple spikes that hold six to eight buds each. 

Fiery Reed Epidendrum 

This species and its cultivars may bloom any season of the year in warm sites. In bright red-orange, pink, and white, the petite petals form showy clusters on multiple stems.

Fiery reed (also crucifix orchid due to the bloom configuration) is native to northern South America, where it’s lithophytic, meaning it grows in rock crevices. The rugged grower is a good beginner selection and a pick for anyone looking to diversify the collection.

Fiery reed benefits from morning sun exposure or bright, dappled light and humid conditions. In cool areas, bring it inside after summering outdoors.

Oncostele ‘Wildcat’

These wild-looking specimens roar with open mouths in deep burgundy and gold shades. The bold bloomers are unique and relatively easy to grow, with reblooming qualities. They may bloom up to three times a year for two to three months, with a similar break in between sessions.

Each flower is large—about silver-dollar sized—with variations in markings and color by variety. The hybrid ‘Golden Red Star’ is mostly mahogany red with light yellow tips. ‘Garfield’ features more bright yellow with scarlet striations at the center.

Oncidium ‘Twinkle’

Oncidium, or dancing ladies, yield small blooms in groups that resemble dancers in a long skirt, gracefully moving on the stem. ‘Twinkle’ is a dwarf with a miniature form and flowers.

The Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden Merit recipient produces multiple sprays of bloom-lined branches. Creamy white flowers have a golden center and float on wiry stems. They bloom for a month or so and can flower any time of year.

‘Twinkle’ is a hybrid of O. cheirophorum and O. ornithorhynchum. ‘Twinkle Pink Profusion’ bears loads of petite pink dancers.

Clamshell

Clamshell, or cockleshell (also Encyclia cochleata), is a spicily fragrant, exquisite selection. Its long flowering is due to a spike that continues to grow and develop buds. Leave the stem intact so it produces sequential blossoms.

Clamshell is compact and needs little space to shine. Slender petals resemble delicate tendrils in greenish white. Its clamshell hood (dorsal sepal) is elegant in dark purple maroon and gold with painterly details. 

Leaves in fresh green and thick and strappy. The indigenous species occurs in southern Florida and Mexico, Central America, northern South America, and the West Indies.

Brassavola ‘Lady of the Night’

‘Lady of the Night’ is an epiphyte native to lowland tropical forests of Central and South America. It’s sweetly fragrant, especially in the evening, with slender, whitish green petals and sepals and a heart-shaped lip that stands out in prominence.

Each plant produces multiple stems that hold one to six of the striking flowers. They bloom in any season, usually more than once and up to several times a year in optimal conditions. Fall and winter are their primary bloom cycle.

‘Lady of the Night’ is an adaptable grower and a fun one to add for its glowing qualities and light citrus scent.

Psychopsis ‘Mendenhall Hildos’

Psychopsis orchids and its cultivars are some of the longest bloomers of the group, yielding nearly constant blooms that resemble ornate butterflies on the stem. One spike produces years of potential buds, reflowering from old inflorescences while growing new ones. Reportedly, they may produce for over a decade on a single stem. At the least, several months is not uncommon.