Awsome. Looks a lot like a pineapple, but more sinister. Love the black stem too. :>)

Thanks Inga. They do look like a pineapple gone wrong. Like with many gingers, those are the bracts and the flowers grow out from them.

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That's a new one for me Completely unfamiliar with it. All my dormants have popped up usually i rot a few from overwatering lol Several years ago I confined the dormants to pots so I can put them out of the irrigation and no holes in the beds lol The "evergreens get downright weedy for me so have eliminated all but an Alpinia t hat is growing around through and on a Crepe myrtle . Had no idea ANT ginger got that big lol gary

You don't see them around all that much, they're mainly from New Guinea with some from Australia and a small area of (non New Guinea) Indonesia. I've seen them in the wild growing on stream banks where it's quite wet. Probably a good one for you if you're prone to over watering, they're supposed to like even soggy conditions.

The Black Backscratcher is supposed to get to around 3 metres tall, mine's about 2.5. I have a smaller one bought as "Indonesian Backscratcher" although don't know which species. It hasn't flowered yet. Maybe I need to 'drown' it a bit more, LOL.

I find Gingers not as invasive as Heliconias but some do stray around a bit. I've avoided taking plants from people who have out of control ones. One they refer to as "Thai Ginger" is really bad. But it's a ridiculous name, there must be hundreds of species that are "Thai". I haven't found any of my gingers going dormant.

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Interesting about the dormancy . Those that go dormant for me without fail are Curcuma, Hedychium and Globba Alpinias and Spirals do not . There was a discussian about this on another forum and though I've grown them for many years my only addition to the conversation was they do lol Why I don't know Appear in April go down in Sept.

Love the gingers but my goal is to have evergreen and everblooming lol

Seems possible but certainly haven't arrived at that yet . i also grow peruvian daffodils blood lilies and amaryllis which also are very seasonal

I've removed everything that requires a seasonal chill Way too much work for an old man though I'm still growing both summer and winter annuals !!

Still have my old impulse habits . Went shopping yesterday for Hibiscus came home with a hybrid Buddleia an oddball gardenia and some more epi ferns !! Now where will I put these lol gary

Glad you reminded me, I do have Curcuma and Globba and they do go dormant. Curcuma is actually a native here, grows a lot in monsoon forests and becomes dormant in the dry season. I have our native one and some Thai ones. Although Hedychium are common here I don't have any. By "Spirals" I assume you mean Costas. Those that I have don't go dormant, but they do slow down in the dry season. My African Costas is becoming a nuisance, there are small plants coming up everywhere and I don't know whether it's from seed or bits of plants broken off.

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They always amaze me with the speed they grow once they become active . Die down just as fast almost like flipping a switch lol I grow a bunch in an old bathtub and they.ve completely poulated it though they,ve never escaped Think I can thank my beach sand for that very few seeds will germinate in it

Had to show a pic of my Cardwell lily actually going to get flowers this year

It tends to stay evergreen some years and will skip flowering if it does. gary

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I don't have the Cardwell Lily. Haven't noticed it in any of the nurseries here but it's often listed with online nurseries. To the left of it, is that Palm Grass, Molineria capitulata?

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That was always identified as Curculigo orchidoides often called "Palm orchid " while it's obviosly neither one has weird flowers that come out of the ground encircling the stem I had a very rare red form which was gorgous. but lost it !! To the right of that area is my so called White elephant palm which has grown considerably since I got but still a LONG way from spectacular . It has developed that fuzzy white on the revese of the fronds so Im becoming more confident that that's what it really is lol when I got it was still attached to the seed had 3 frond two broken.,frond are still very indenrted and longer than wide Palm growers are VERY patient ??? gary

Interesting thing, Curculigo capitulata is one of the synonyms for Molineria capitulata, Palm Grass. When I looked up Curculigo orchioides images, they look remarkably similar, same colour flowers, same arrangement. But checking Kew Gardens Plant List Curculigo orchioides is a legitimate name. Like your Palm Orchid, the Palm Grass is neither a palm nor grass

I remember you mentioning your Kerriodoxa when you first bought it. Looks like it's done quite well. Mine's okay, but not growing all that fast.

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Wonder how they arrive at these names lol First time I saw one could figure it was neither a palm or an orchid so I bought it for that reason lol

Does very superficially resemble palm seedlings and ground orchids . Recently saw some offered at a box store and they had them marked as" Palm grass" Guess that's great progress over " assorted tropicals?? lol.

I'm trying to make a shady "grotto " in the area with the kerriodoxa as the main feature with lots of epis up the sides of the other palms and trees but the epiphyllums ,broms and arrow nine are WAY outgrowing everything

Going to require a LOT of maintence to have a tiny "jungle nook" lol gary

"Jungle nooks" have a habit of getting out of control. But I guess that's also part of the desired look. That Arrow Vine, I guess you mean Syngonium. I have tonnes of that. You'll never get rid of it. Unlike most climbing aroids it's very deep rooted. The roots break off when you try to pull them out and then reshoot. Although I've rescued lots of trees from them, little ones keep coming up out of the ground all around.

The canopy above my Kerriodoxa is a bit low at present but comprised of large Ficus, one a benjamina and the other a NOID. There's still a while before the Keriodoxa starts "hitting its head", and then I'll take a chainsaw to some of the lower large limbs of the Ficus. At the moment they're providing a bit more shade in that area. Yep, constant maintenance. I should get a life, LOL.

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I find it difficult to get specific info particularly on palms 99 percent of the pix are mature plants but no clue as to how long it took to get there lol

Invaribly seedlings look MUCH different and are missing features of adult plants so don't even resemble the pix

" Slow" i figured was defined as years of steady growth not the unfolding of the universe lol Now when I see the word in a description I move on to other types lol On the positive side it saves me from deciding where to move it next?? lol

As to the Syngonium we've reached a truce . I'll learn to lve it and it will grow best in the neighbors yard ?? lol So pretty when it first pops up all pink and dainty looking for around 30 minutes gary