What is your tallest hardy ginger?
Comments (33)
kbmtholly
19 years agoRelated Discussions
Heuchera Ginger Ale, your comments please?
Comments (1)I bought a Ginger Ale last spring. Unfortunately I planted it in full sun and there was a record draught last year. It didn't make it through the season. It may be a good idea to plant it in a somewhat shaded/sheltered spot to let it establish first, unless you have a very vigorous plant. Although the plant photo in the catalog did not impress me, the sctual plant has a translucent look (in contrast with other heucheras) that is desirable for perennial bed composition....See MoreButterfly Ginger
Comments (14)Oh, Kathy, you're making me so homesick. I can almost smell those sweet blooms now. My Grannie had one on the south slope below the back of her house so she could look out her bedroom windows and see it in bloom and smell the fragrance. She did complain sometimes about the mess they made, but she loved that tree. Mine was a beauty. I just hated that I lost it. It grew to about ten ft. It was a booger to move into the greenhouse in the winter. When it was smaller (like in the photo above), I brought it into the house and put it right here where my computer desk is now - north-facing window. It was lovely in the winter when everything outside was so drab. Lucky you! Send me some seeds, PLEASE? I would love to try growing another one. I'm ready. I got a new generator for this winter's power failures. No more freezing cold and we will have water too, since our well water is brought into the house via and electric pump). Sooo, no more loss of power in the greenhouse too. Yeah! Anyway, back to Ginger plants! ~Annie...See Moregingers hardy to zone 5/6
Comments (6)For what it is worth: the hardiest Hedychiums I am aware of are H. spicatum and H. densiflorum. H. forrestii is probably a variant of H. spicatum (you might try asking David Constantine or checking his website). They are both naturally deciduous, unlike many Gingers. I suspect they are hardy to USDA z7, and I'm pretty sure they tolerate a few degrees below zero Fahrenheit. You might be able to push them a little by mulching them. The risk to them is that the rhizomes--which unfortunately are prone to creeping along or just under the surface of the earth--must not freeze. If your winters are dry (and they probably are) you might be able to protect them with a thick enough leafy mulch before the first freeze hits. This is a long shot but there are people who grow all sorts of surprising things by piling vast amounts of mulch on them. Gingers are hard to move in and out of doors, the reason being that they are one of those plants that transplant poorly dormant. If the rhizomes are damaged while they are dormant, they might rot. If growing in earnest, you can take small pieces of rhizome and get them started with no problem, usually. I learned about this the hard way, having wrecked my clump of Zingiber myoga trying to divide it dormant. It never fully recovered, and is only a shadow of its former glory. It has taken years to recover as much as it has. The guy in Michigan might be doing something tricky like plunging the whole pot (so as not to disturb the rhizomes too much). I don't know where Cautleyas and Roscoeas become possible. They do not deal well with high heat. My own climate has fairly cool summers so that is not a problem. Even in Seattle, tho, they flop over in particularly hot weather, and won't resuscitate until the weather cools down. Cautleyas are probably intermediate between Hedychiums and Roscoeas. Not quite as alpinish as Roscoeas. There are all of about 3 species. Very tropical-looking but not quite as showy as Hedychiums, or as vigorous or lush. Zingiber myoga is weirdly hardy for a Zingiber. Easy to grow, too. It would probably need a mulch, tho. You can harvest it and use it just like culinary ginger; its the ginger you find in sushi bars stained pink (the pink traditionally from shiso leaves) called "myoga" (fancy that). The Japanese tend to harvest it young but you could harvest it fully ripe if you want something stronger. The flowers are, alas, small, and almost hidden under the leaves; they grow on short stocks at the base of the plants. This is typical of the genus. The flowers are yellowish or off-white. The Japanese have been known to dip them in tempura batter and deep-fry them. NOT A GINGER, but looks vaguely like one, is Pollia japonica, actually a member of the Tradescantia family, which also happens to be weirdly hardy for its own family. Look it up on the internet. It is easy to grow to the point of being weedy and is almost certainly hardy in USDA z5. One of its relations is cultivated in the south and (mistakenly) called "Blue Ginger". Asarums are not Gingers and it is unfortunate that people keep calling them such. Their rhizomes reminded someone of Ginger (someone who doesn't really know what Ginger smells like) and the name stuck. Not only that, but the more beautiful of them are probably not ironclad hardy in your climate. Actually they do bloom; they are not as showy as real Gingers and the flowers are hidden under the leaves, but some of them have blossoms that are "interesting" and kinda pretty in a grotesque way. (Many of them are slug pollinated so what do you expect?). Some of the Chinese species have rather striking leaves....See MoreWhat is the tallest evergreen shrub, that is good to Zone 4?
Comments (15)Since this is in a snow dump zone . . . You are out of luck for evergreens against the house where the snow drops. I would plant your evergreens at least 10 feet from the house so that they don't get broken by the snow dump. If they are large, plant more like 15-20 feet from the house. In that kind of circumstance, planting any evergreen with which I am familiar as well as many deciduous shrubs within the zone where ice and snow will be landing will be an exercise in frustration since they will get mashed and broken whenever snow rockets down off the roof. In this area at my house I have planted caning shrubs such as spirea and Hydrangea arborescens, both of which can be cut back to the ground if needed in spring and within a month or so will be a couple of feet high again and will bloom that summer at their regular size. You can also plant large perennials such as some of the larger Baptisias since they will die back to the ground and not be harmed. Farther out, away from the range of the snow dump I have plants that won't easily recover from damage that would be caused when the roof lets loose of its snow load but do fine with snow from the clouds. Thuja/arborvitae does well here if it has a single stem; split stems tend to split under a wet snow load or freezing rain. I have Sunkist and Techny which I expect will take a fair time to exceed 15', so I consider them large shrubs/small trees. Spruces come in a range of sizes and speed of growth. I have Picea pungens Fat Albert which seems to grow a bit slower than the straight species, but will eventually get too large and need to be removed. There are plenty more that the folks on the conifer forum could recommend. Some of the hardier, small-leafed rhododendrons such as PJM and Olga Mezitt (sometimes just labeled Olga) look good in winter. Their leaves curl when it's really cold (single digits and below) but they don't suffer foliage damage here, even when it gets down into the double-digit negative temperatures; mine have grown relatively quickly to 6'-8' but have now pretty much settled at that height. PJM has mahogany winter foliage and Olga has olive winter foliage so they make a nice contrast with other evergreens. I am assuming that this area will get at least a half day of good light. Other than Mt. Laurels/Kalmia latifolia and hemlocks (not recommended because of the wooly adelgids as GG48 mentioned) there aren't a whole lot of shade loving options that are evergreen....See Morezeta9
19 years agoGAAlan
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19 years agoNot my tallest but the most amazing fragrance. And a peachy coral that looks like chiffon. The photo is a little too light.
Dr. Moy
GAAlan
19 years agocactusfreak
19 years agoIf you mean do I have any to trade. Yes I do. Multiplies fast.
I tend to collect plants also. So I have lots of different gingers. Costus, Alpinias, Hedychiums and a few others.
If you want to take a drive out this way I'll give you some that I already have in pots. I've got way too much of everything to overwinter.
Excess plants. Just some of them.
digger66
19 years agocactusfreak
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19 years agogaryz8bpnw
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoAwesome discussion here! Thx much.
Almost a year ago we moved to a house with awesome garden potential, but essentially no plantings. Yep bare slate. So I brought things with me from the last yard to kick things off.
Now I'm looking for suggestions for a couple FRAGRANT 4 to 8' tall Hedychium hardy gingers that will grow and flower well here in our z8b Seattle area.
I want marked tropical effect AND need them both quite fragrant and visually exciting. These must be Queen's that hold their own and contribute well in a Canna / Gunnera / Iris area*.
What do you recommend most to try?
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Background internet research summary impressions so far:
All Hedychium coronarium and 'Anne Bishop' have the right fragrance profiles, look awesome, but likely won't flower here in time.
'Tara' may have some fragrance after 10 PM, if it is very warm summer, but it's risky and I have several orange canna already visually holding their own.
Having the fragrance potential 'Daniel Weeks' might be an early enough bloomer, but no comments on it yet for PNW. UK expirence suggests densiflorum 'Stephen' is potentially early enough, but only if in a warm sheltered spot. And Aloha Tropicals suggests trying a gardnerianum Kalihi type or H. 'Mutant', but I see no locally reports for either and the Mutant only has small curious flowers.
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* Garden setting where Hedychium must shine visually ... imagine awesome fragrance wafting** through a late afternoon or evening stroll ... and your nose leads you to tropical, at less expense than going to Hawaii.
GARDEN PHOTOS & DESCRIPTION
Early Summer initial staging in this quadrant:
Late Fall staging so far:
The above center photo Chilean Gunnera, at 5' then, has almost a 12' x 12' romping area ... and I have a machete. The light leaf zone to its right is a Canna 'Stuttgart'. Foreground is a sizable 3' deep fish n frog pond. To it's right (not shown) separate Lotus and tadpole rearing (fishless) zone.
Adjacent to this area also staged for early spring planting, are selected German Iris and Echinacea in a rainbow of colors, staged with shorter types in front (see front right and side and central of photo below). Behind the canna (left) and walkway, snaking along the pathway already planted are Japanese Iris in a bog zone connected to the Gunnera bog pit as water supply.
To the back left of the shed in the sunny empty spot (where a ceramic head sits on a pole now) will be a giant Canna musafolia (reddish form).
Upper right in the above photo shows a Hardy Basjoo Banana, with room for small grove to develop. It grew from 4" pot acquired in May to 4.5' in Ocotober last year and had about 4 offshoots already.
The Banana sits to the left side of a 5' x 15' x 2.5' deep root barrier protected bed with 3 starts of Golden Vivax Timber Bamboo (35 - 50' expected height). The bed runs parallel to a large laurel backdrop framing the rear yard and the walkway,
On the right back corner of the shed photo above, in an afternoon shaded spot, is a hydrangea division of our 12" giant aspera 'Sargentianum'. Photo from last yard below.
There is enough distance between the German Iris bed and shed to have some (already staged to plant) compact (Red) Hot Poker and Crocosmia of different colors, as well as a natural ground path space towa Giant hygrangea and Golden Bamboo and Banana stand pits. The path is edges with smaller select Hydrangea Hosta. Some of the hosts are large, such as 'Komodo Dragon' and 'T. Rex', varigated ('Great Expecations',
or fragrant (plantinga).
To soften the front right corner of the shed is staged a 'Jordan' Full Moon Japanese Maple not yet very large but growing fast here. Its bright golden yellow green summer leaf color and Spring/Fall orange and reddish colors were selected to make one's eye dart between the similar and contrasting colors in this yard quadrant's backdrop.
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Recent background internet research effecting the Hedychium decision:
Local landscaping consultants here often state that in our coolish Oceanic Climate only 'Tara' and densiflorum (looking like 'Assam Gold'?) flower reliably, before it gets too cold. Hands down most reliable here (and world wide in northern climates) is 'Tara'. But 'Tara' may not be very fragrant here. And both of these Hedychium are quite orange. I'm afraid my orange canna will over shadow visually. But canna lack fragrance! Guessing 'Tara' is a must try anyway.
Late Summer photo of Canna that will be near any Hedychium selected:
[Yup: hard to beat 'Durban' = 'Phason" = 'Tropicanna' for visual drama! Guess this is why sellers keep re-branding it? It looks great next to the Cardinal Flower 'Starship Scarlett' that I grew from Burpee sourced seeds. Yeah I should rebrand and sell the canna as 'Orange Firefall', 'Starship Class' or 'Dragon King'. Acquired this in one gallon pot in last June and this photo was a same yeat October photo. But I digress ....]
As for fragrant Hedychium potentials already acquired for testing, I was able to find 'Elizabeth' and 'Dr Moy' starters last fall. 'Dr Moy' has neat likely variegated leaves, but might not flower here reliably?
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It's not that we lack fragrance in the yard already, but it is in different seasons or areas.
** Other seasonally progressing fragrance elements staged here already:
Late Winter Witch Hazel 'Jelina'. Spring Hyacinth, Poets and Thalia Narcissis, Muscaria and with opposite effect ... Crown Fritillaria and a large PNW Shunk Cabbage in bog planter. Edgeworthia chrysantha 'Nanjing Gold' and Daphne (3 kinds). Winter Jasmine and Honeysuckle on gazebo. Giant Himalayan Lily***. Stock along some walk boarders. Oriental and other tall lilies. White Brugmansia & Nicotinia alata for moongarden near hammock area (wife's favorite mid summer to fall place after work to read). Three powerfully fragrant roses, one climbing 'Zephirine Drouhin' at house front door and 'Secret' and 'Jude the Obscure' near covered back patio off kitchen.
The yard also has 8 kinds of timber bamboo, a great many types of Hydrangea and two very long fence selections with Clematis (you guessed it) of differents kinds and a Golden Hops too.
*** We brought a Cardiocrium giganteum with us that turned out to be Yunnan variety. It surprized us and bloomed 3-4 months later in the transfer tub at 9' tall. It liked the northside of a building in our yard. The colony it is forming has been worked into the yard.
I mention it here because is powerfully fragrant a night. Right after sunset it wafts lily fragrance across the yard. If if air movement is very light you can enjoy it in a 10' wide by length of the yard zone. If you get one, plant it in a protected morning sun courtyard or nook where the fragrance can linger. Bring hammock and light jacket.
-- click photo to engage "wow" effect --
We picked them up locally at a couple different PNW locations a few years ago and lucked out to get both this and the other larger white one too (here at 9' too in a shadier location in our last yard).
Internet photo: understandably I'm pushing the sun and fertilzer more to shoot for its fuller potential.
Disclaimer: they don't grow well away from the mild temperate to subalpine? Himalayan home habitat, unless you have a cool summer mild humid climate.
They work great here in PNW... unlike many Hedychium.
garyz8bpnw
7 years ago
zeta9