It seems like there is way too much variability to say that any of these varieties aren't as hardy as the next from reading all of this. My CL is just barely coming in from a decent plant that i planted last early summer. The TT is okay.. not big or small from the same sized plant. I hope these two hang on. My E. Paradoxa that i started from seed last year stayed semi evergreen through the winter. My sunset, sunrise and harvest moon, Green Jewel, "Rocky Top", tennesseensis, "Raspberry Tart", "Pink Parisol" are all coming back. All are still small. My Pallida... still looking for it... got covered in some straw that i had around a fig... so i need to clear it out to check. I don't want to loose it.. i liked the look of it last year. The standard purpurea are all up and the strongest of them all of course.

Your climate is several zones warmer than the folks whose gingers don't bloom earlier, Janie. Spring starts sooner for you and your gingers don't die to the ground. Mine do. At about 25 degrees, even cardamon ginger gives it up. The first year I planted Siam Ginger, I planted it in a kind of damp spot and never saw it again. Now I plant Curcumas on a well drained slope with protection of live oaks and they still faint and fall over at the first hint of frost, but they come back, late spring and bloom, August. Shell ginger (Alpinia) has never bloomed here at all, but I grow it for the interesting foliage. I kept some in the greenhouse this winter to see if they could get an earlier start and maybe bloom. We'll see. I wonder if the one the dog chewed will do better for it? Siam Ginger and Hidden Ginger are Curcumas. Shampoo Ginger and Pinecone Ginger are Zingibers, the same family as culinary ginger, I think. I think Dancing Ladies are Globba. Kaempferias are the Peacock Gingers. Cardamomum (cardamon ginger) does bloom, just not here. There are lots of other tropical gingers. Nell

I used to live just south of Lafayette- of course they never had anything good or out of the ordinary when I was there LOL! There were a few nice nurseries around but most just had run of the mill stuff. I think Stokes Tropicals had the most unusual plants out of all the nurseries in that area but I didn't see any Etlingeras there either. You would definitely need a greenhouse or to bring them in for the winter even on the LA coast. From what I've read they don't like to bloom in pots....can anyone else comment on this? I have seen them for sale on ebay. Steve do you grow the torch gingers and have you got them to flower? I know of a few people who have had them planted in the ground their greenhouses in N FL who have had them flower but said they got very tall first. I would love to try to grow these here (9a) I only keep my gh up half the year. I have other tender zn 10 &11 plants growing successfully here. ~SJN

Hi The naming system for this family leaves a lot to be desired lol The common names in particular . Love the family but hate the winter dormancy i find globbas ,zingerber ,curcuma kaempferia all go dormant no matter what the weather so I grow them in pots otherwise I have big holes for long periods. Alpinia will remain evergreen except for cold or drought induced dormancy. Have one identified as A. zerumbet but is well over 20 feet tall while the flowers emerge from the leaf tips feel it is an alpinia but not zerumbet though again there are dozens of varieties not to mention hybrids. Etlingera flowers from separate stalks much like zingerber(pine cone) Have always wanted to try them if they are evergreen and with over 100 members in the genus there must be some that don't grow into trees?? They were selling some at the Fairchild sale that they referred to as "glass roses" they wouldn't go beyond etlingera but the flowers were pink /white a foot wide and did look like they were made of glass !! Was excited until I found they only had seeds at 5 bucks each!!! I have since tracked down an ID Etlingera venusta but have never found them again. gary