Garden Clippings
Grow gingers for flowers
By RUTH DAVIES
Article published on Thursday, Sept. 20, 2007  |
Gingers were to be feared, or at least that’s what I thought when I started gardening in Florida. My impression was that they would cover my lot in a short time. I still bought some, but I grew them in containers.
Recently, I sat in on a talk about gingers and learned most prefer shade, but some grow in sun. There are more than 1,500 species of gingers and I’m not familiar with most of them, but will share information about the ones I grow.
The most important factor I learned is that these tropicals need warm weather to bloom, so there’s no pushing the temperature down. Next, they all need fertilizer (rose food or 8-4-6) and water.
Dancing ladies, Globba winitii, grows about 2 feet tall and needs full shade. This ginger has been blooming its lavender-pink flowers for a month. As the wind blows, the flowers swing, hence the common name. This ginger goes dormant in the winter, so mark where it is or keep it in a container.
Pinecone ginger, also known as shampoo ginger, Zingiber zerumbet, grows in partial sun, 3- to 4-feet tall. It spreads, although is not invasive.
In summer green cones come up through the foliage, turn red and then have white flowers. Historically, pinecone ginger was used medicinally. Today, its milky substance from the flower is used in commercial shampoos.
Ginger lily, Hedychium coronarium, is a popular landscape plant and also prefers a part-sun location. It grows 4- to 5-feet tall.
Yellow and green variegated shell ginger is a tall and dramatic landscape or container plant. The leaves are about 2 feet long. The flowers are white and pink pendants. This is the plant I keep in light shade in a bog atmosphere.
The recent lack of rain and lack of attention has caused it to die back. It is reviving, however, now that I’ve watered. Morning sun helps to keep it blooming.
Now that my fear is gone by learning the growth needs of gingers, I am increasing the varieties to try.
Ruth Davies is a Pinellas County Master Gardener. She can be reached at sunflower1368@juno.com.
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Article published on Thursday, Sept. 20, 2007
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