Gingers
"Pink Dwarf Ginger Lily"
(Siphonochilus decorus cv. Kirkii)
Gingers
"Pink Dwarf Ginger Lily"
(Siphonochilus decorus cv. Kirkii)
The word "Ginger" covers over 1300 different species, including the one we use in cooking. I'm just going to highlight a few that I have gotten great pleasure out of. They are all easy to care for, and are very rewarding.
"Kaempferia Silver Spot & Bronze Peacock"
The Kaempferia family contains some charming, low growing plants, that have as beautiful leaves as they do flowers. The well-known "peacock ginger" belongs to this family. They like filtered sun to shade, and bloom all season. They go dormant in the winter, and need to be kept from freezing.
"Kaempferia Galanga"
This variety only grows 4" to 6" tall, but it produces lovely flowers all summer. It's the first kaempferia I ever grew, and still probably my favorite.
"Jewel of Burma"
(Curcuma roscoeana)
This ginger is part of the curcuma family, also known as "the Hidden Gingers", because the flowers are generally borne down at the base, so they tend to "hide" among the leaves.
"Costus erythrophyllus"
The costus family is also known as the "Spiral Gingers", because the leaves grow in a spiral around the stem. Several varieties have leaves with undersides that feel like velvet. Another feels hairy all over, and others are smooth. One variety, Costus speciousus variegatus, has green and white variegated leaves.
"Costus curvibracteatus"
The above ginger is a dwarf costus, only growing a couple of feet tall. Other varieties can grow from 6 to 10 feet tall.
"Pink Dwarf Ginger Lily"
(Siphonochilus decorus cv. Kirkii)
The Pink Dwarf Ginger Lily makes a good houseplant with its large flowers. It blooms freely in 6" pots, and likes part sun, part shade. There is another variety that is exactly the same as this, except that it has yellow flowers.
"Hedychium Pink V"
These gingers grow fairly tall, and have gorgeous clusters of flowers in late summer. They are often very fragrant, also.