Favourite plant of the week.
Every so often, a plant comes into flower or produces such a wonderful
leaf that I can't imagine how I'd managed to overlook it previously.
Such is the case with a remarkable ginger - Hedychium greenii. I
first grew this plant years ago and although I remember it being
'nice', I can't say that I was ever that enamoured with it. This year
I managed to get hold of a clump - mainly for its striking, glossy
maroon 'canes' and similarly coloured young shoots. It has grown
superbly with the original three canes being rapidly supplemented by
another 5 which are now just over 6 feet high.
On Monday, after several weeks of inactivity, the flower buds finally
started to open from the congested, heavily bracted spikes. They are
wonderful creations rather like heavily creased, brick red, crepe
paper. The large and showy 'lip' is distinctly orchid-like giving the
entire flower an exceptionally exotic appeal. Sadly there is no
fragrance, but by way of compensation, the flowers are amongst the
longest lasting in the entire genus and 5 days later, the oldest
remain in perfect condition. Another bonus is the formation of
'keikis' - adventitious plantlets which develop within the flower
spike after the blooms have faded.
I used to think that an Hedychium without fragrance was a bit like an
unscented red rose - almost unforgivable. However, I can live with
this because for several weeks, H gardnerianum and coccineum have
filled the garden with a sweet, penetrating aroma and even now, the
narcissus-like fragrance of H. forrestii still lingers on the breeze.
Each day I keep visiting greenii to see how many more of the 3" wide
blooms have opened and every day I look and say "Wow!" Suddenly, this
plant has become a very great favourite.
Dave Poole
TORQUAY
