>>Looks just like the ginger root you buy at the supermarket. Probably Hedychium gardnerianum. Nearly all plants sold as "Hawaiian native plants" are not native to Hawaii. Coffee, Chinese Hibiscus (sheesh, Hawaii has one of the highest concentrations of species of Hibiscus in the world and they ignore them to grow H. rosa-sinensis), Heliconias, all Orchids cultivated in Hawaii (they have precisely 3 obscure natives) including and especially the ubiquitous "Grass Orchids" (from China), Bromeliads (including Pineapples), Anthuriums, etc, are not really natives at all. There are no native Gingers in Hawaii, but one from the eastern Himalaya escaped cultivation and is now ubiquitous in Hawaii and has a Hawaiian name: Khahili. It is an AGRESSIVE plant, declared a weed in many subtropical climates of the world. Pigeons learn to eat the arils and they spread the seed all over, and the rhizomes are capable of growing on bare lava. It is fairly coldhardy and should survive in Virginia Beach, at least once established. Don't disturb it until it starts growing in earnest in warmer weather. When growing in earnest it transplants easily. Harden it off a bit before planting it out. We don't know that this is what you have, but it is a likely candidate, as it is strongly associated with Hawaii, has a typical gingery-looking rhizome, and is very commonly sold as a "Hawaiian native plant". Another possibility is an Alpinia (maybe zerumbet) and those aren't nearly as hardy. Look up both Hedychium gardnerianum and Alpinia zerumbet (sp?) and see which one your plant looks more like. If it is the Hedychium getting it to bloom shouldn't be too much of a problem. It will just need to bulk up a bit (mine has a rhizome weighing around 50 lbs). Your specimen is probably quite small compared to its ultimate size. Hedychiums grow fast when conditions are right. Full sun, rich soil, and plenty of water and fertilizer suit them. Don't worry about them not blooming if you feed them: they are greedy feeders and will bloom in season once they have enough rhizomal reserves. Let them get crowded (that will encourage them to bloom), and don't divide them unless they are actively growing. They are easy to propagate from fresh seed. They like LOTS of water in hot weather when they are growing in earnest, but they like to dry out a bit in cold weather. It is evergreen, but in your climate the foliage will freeze off during hard freezes. This does not kill them, and sets them back only slightly. They bounce right back in the springtime. The flowers vary in color. They can be yellowish or greenish, and one that I suspect is a natural hybrid is orange (that's the one I have). They are quite fragrant, probably more so at night than in the day, and the fragrance is excellent. Mine smells like Hyacinth blossoms very late at night, but I do not know if they all have the same scent. It is a variable plant. Some forms are tall (over 6 feet) and some are short, around 4 feet.

First of, sorry to hear it. I feel your pain. Second of all, when you say that you've read that voles don't come back once disturbed, do you mean my other post here? Or did you read it somewhere else? I'm curious, because that's just what I've noticed, but I've never read of it elsewhere. Also, I have seen them come back to a plant later, it's just that they seem to flee when you do the "excavation of rage" in their burrow under your hosta's crown. As for the plant, just pot it in good soil and keep it watered. It will come back next year according to how much crown is left. Usually it's not much, unfortunately. It is absolutely astounding, isn't it, how much damage these little creatures do in such a short time?!? KN

Hi Erin, I had total success with the seashell moat. Not one rose lost to them over the winter. What I do is a bit complicated but works really well and is easy. I buy mostly own root roses which tend to have small root systems. I use a 7 1/2 inch pressed pot (peat pot) place an inch of coarsely crushed shells on the bottom. The landscape supply company I buy these from runs them over with his loader a few times. You want them sharp. You need to use a pot that will decompose or you could also use a cardboard box. Just something to keep the soil contained since this method is much easier than the grafted rose method. Plant the rose in good quality soil with a spoonful of Mycorrhizal sprinkled on the roots and a bit of alfalfa and Tomatotone. I fill the pot to about an inch below the lip. Dig a hole that is big enough around so it's about 1 to 2 inches bigger than the pot on all sides. And maybe an inch deeper than the pot. Put the pot in the hole then fill the "moat" with the crushed shells and across the top of the pot so the rose is completely surrounded by shells. You don't want a gap that the little buggers can tunnel through. I then mulch over with regular mulch. Grafted is a little different. Dig a hole so your graft is 4 inches below the soil. Put your rose in the hole. Put about an inch of shells on the bottom of the hole over the rose roots. Using sticky soil try to build up a decent layer of soil around the roots leaving about 2 inches on the outside for your moat. Do this in stages. As you go up the roots put your shell moat in. Then surround the roots or shaft with a decent layer of soil around the shaft leaving the same amount of space from the edge of the hole for your shell moat. Keep going until you're about 2 inches from the top. Add a layer of shells across the whole top right up to all the canes and across to the edges of the hole. You want the rose root system completely encased in shells. I generally do a moat of shells about 8 inches deep since I read that voles don't dig below around six inches. I still put shells at the bottom of the hole but you can fill a really deep hole with soil until you're about 8 inches from the top of the hole. For existing roses I dug a trench around the rose about 6 inches away from the canes, I just used a hand trowel to dig a trench about 5 inches deep and filled it with shells and then added a layer of shells across the crown of the rose, squeezing then between the canes so the rose was protected. Just make sure that you plant the rose where you want it since it's a pain to dig-up, not impossible but still a pain. I figure if I can't shovel through it the voles shouldn't be able to dig through it :-) I was worried about frost heaving through the winter or the roses roots freezing but all of my roses were fine. They don't seem to need more frequent watering than roses planted just in soil so it seems my moat is a success. I'll post a step by step picture tutorial with a potted rose in the next few days. Meantime I hope this helps. sharon

I'm not so sure about any of this. My sole success in getting deer to actually help in the garden is with hellebores. For several years in a row, they came and ate the old hellebore leaves - the ugly ones you are supposed to remove so the flowers can be seen. They did this for me. Then there was the year the vole damage was the almost complete destruction of a hardy geranium. I think it was G. x cantabrigiensis. At the time, it looked like there was enough left that it would come back, but this spring the area seems full of violets. For years now, I have been of the opinion that we need a concerted campaign to teach plants and animals to read. Life would be so much easier if they all knew what we were expecting of them, so they could at least pretend to play along.