Re: Hardy ginger question
There are several gingers that are reliably hardy in zone 7. The
easiest one, with fragrant flowers, is the white butterfly ginger,
Hedychium coronarium. It is widely available, increases well, but needs
a few hours of direct sun to bloom well. An alternate source for the
hardier gingers is Plant Delights in Raleigh, NC. I think Tony has a
pink flowering one that is also zone 7 hardy.
For more info on gingers, I have compiled a ginger website with over 600
species listed. Go to http://www.nettally.com/skinnerd/gingers.htm.
There is also an article on my website, written by a correspondent from
Michigan, on growing gingers in cold climates.
BTW, the designer of the Stokes catalog is a friend of mine in Baton
Rouge. I will be sure to pass on your compliment about the catalog.
Anelle Kloski wrote:
>
> I just got a fantastic Stokes catalog in the mail, with lovely pictures
> of many tropical plants I could not begin to grow here in Zone 7.
> Looking at it has sent me into a quandary, as many of the gingers (for
> instance) are said to be hardy to Zone 7. Does anyone have suggestions
> for a flowering ginger which might bloom well for me, and be fragrant?
> I would like one to be edible also, but I dont find that combination in
> the catalog. Has anyone had good luck with getting a hardy ginger to
> bloom, preferably in the shade? I may have to just order plants for my
> daughter who lives in southern California, but I would like to try one
> myself. I have an unidentified ginger which I brought from the San
> Francisco Bay Area, where we used to live. It has come back for two
> years now, but I think I could lose it in a hard freeze any year now. It
> has never bloomed. But I would love to have some of those delicate
> tropical blooms from the catalog. How realistic would it be to plant
> ginger here, where we get a foot or so of snow every once in a while,
> and it lasts for some days? Which kinds would be most likely to bloom?
>
> Anelle
--
Dave Skinner, Le Jardin Ombragé, Tallahassee, Florida
E-Mail skinnerd@freenet.tlh.fl.us
or skinnerd@nettally.com
WEBSITE http://www.nettally.com/skinnerd/ombrage.html
