Awesome 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? _______ 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. ______ * 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. _______ 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? _______ 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.

I've had very good luck with Crocosmia and Salvias as previously mentioned. Right now there isn't anything they like other than the Fushia hanging basket near the feeders. I keep the feeders going all winter and had both the Anna's and Calliope Hummers stay through the entire season for two years now. The Rufous don't show up until March. Our yard backs up to Seola Park greenbelt in West Seattle so I see them searching and picking bugs off the tree branchs. Oddly, they particularly like a cedar and a blue spruce.I don't what they are getting from them but suspect some sort of tiny bug. There are at least 2 - maybe 3 pairs and some oddball visitors. They scrap with themselves and the other birds constantly. I never figured them to be so territorial. They will perch on a tree limb and chatter, chirp and flash their gorgets in the evening after a good meal. A tip: Never let the food source go empty whether its flowers or a feeder. THEY WILL LEAVE and you'll just be stuck with the transients unless you have a neighbor who serves them.

Thanks for the reply John. The *pot idea* is/was only for its first year. I was intending to put it in a good size pot - 5 gall or larger - hoping to allow it to develop a stronger root system over the summer. I have a smallish garden shed which has reasonable light and a heater in there should the temps fall drastically. I was thinking if I put the EC in there during say Dec/Jan + may Feb, then come March or so I could bring it out and plant it in ground. Interesting your comments that they took quite a considerable length of time to put on height. The reading I've done indicated they were fast growers but seems that is not the case given your experiences! I can live witih the 5-7 years for bloom thing if that's the way it is. I'm getting a couple of Davidia involucrata and gather that they also can be 10 years to bloom. Hope I'm still around for the bloom of both. LOL!! Again, many thanks for sharing your experience. Holly

Any sub-tropical exotic catches my eye, like the Gunnera's, Windmill palms(Trachycarpus fortunei), giant ricepaper plant (Tetrapanax papyrifera 'Steroidal Giant'), the many different species of bamboo, hardy eucalyptus, & the hardy banana (Musa basjoo). Also the other hardy and semi-hardy palms such as the Sabal's, (Jubaea chilensis) Chilean Wine Palm, (Butia capitata)Jelly Palm, (Butia eriospatha) Woolly Jelly Palm, plus a few others that I see around the area. I also find the bright flowers of the hardy Grevillea and Callistemon very eye catching. Of course Chilean Firebush (Embothrium coccineum) during the spring also catches my eye along with the bright blue flowers of the Empress Tree (Paulownia tomentosa) I also like the bright yellow flowers of the Scotsbroom, specially during our dark, rainy, depressing spring days. Those bright yellow flowers are so cheery. Scottsbroom also provides cover and food for one of my favorite birds, the valley quail. If it wasn't for the scottsbroom around Olympia there wouldn't be valley quail. I also like the bright cheery flowers of the butterfly bush (Buddleia davidii). There isn't the range of color, fragance, and time of blooming of any other plant for the northwest. They are very attractive.