Looking great in mid August is Hedychium spicatum. This is a ginger lily species we saw throughout our late 1990s travels in Yunnan, China. Pictured below are our 3 year old seed-grown specimen, which has already become a massive 5′ tall x 10′ wide. The flower is much smaller than some of the more showy species of hedychium, but the overall garden impact is quite grand. Hardiness is Zone 7b-10 (guessing).
Back in the early 2000s, we grew the spiral ginger, Costus speciosus for many years, before finally loosing it in a very cold winter, but its potential hardiness has always fascinated us. In 2013, Georgia plantsman Ozzie Johnson collected a specimen near the border of North Vietnam and Southern China at 3,900′ elevation. Below is Ozzie’s collection this week at JLBG, after our recent winter of 11 degrees F. The same plant, growing in Atlanta, survived 5 degrees F this winter without protection, so I think we can safely say we have a Zone 7b hardy form. This exceptional clone has been named Costus speciosus ‘Wizard of Oz’. It will take a few years to build up stock, but we’ll get this one ready as fast as possible.
In flower this week is the amazing ginger lily, Hedychium ‘Flaming Torch’…our 1999 introduction, with its’ fragrant peachy flowers is still looking great! This is another of those plants that never sold particularly well, so we haven’t offered it since 2016. Winter hardiness is Zone 7b and warmer.
The amazing Hedychium deceptum from India, has recently burst into flower here at JLBG. This species is fairly new to commerce, but has proven to be an amazing, compact-growing specimen that thrives even in our full sun. The dark cinnamon calyces really make the scarlet flowers stand out. We rate this as hardy to Zone 8a, but that’s because we simply don’t have enough data yet, but we’ll be very surprised if it’s not fine in Zone 7b.
Early fall is peak ginger lily season, and Hedychium ‘Anne Bishop’ is looking particularly stunning this week. This amazing cultivar always ranks near the very top of our favorites list.
The 7′ tall, and very floriferous Hedychium ‘Flaming Torch’ is looking quite stunning today in the garden. Although they are commonly called ginger lily, they are not a true lily (genus Lilium) or a true ginger plant (genus Zingiber). Hedychiums are prized for their summer and early fall floral shows atop bold-foliaged stalks. The inflorescences are quite exotic looking, resembling clusters of orchids. Slightly moist, rich garden soils and at least 1/2 day sun are best for these hardy tropical looking plants.
Here’s another oddity in the fabulous ginger genus, hedychium. First, Hedychium ellipticum requires shade, compared to most hedychiums that need sun to flower. Also, Hedychium ellipticum has pendant stalks, compared to the rigidly upright stalks of most more commonly grown ginger lilies. We love the elegant flower heads that adorn the garden in late July/early August. This photo is from the gardens at JLBG last week. Hardiness is Zone 7b south. Sadly, this is always a poor seller when offered by Plant Delights…perhaps people just need to see this in person to appreciate its exquisite beauty.
Just like the Broadway play, we love the plant, Boesenbergia hamiltonii. We acquired this gem from India in 2005 before it actually existed as a species. Back in the day, taxonomists who dealt only with dead, smashed plants, had created a rather large mess assigning the name Boesenbergia longiflora to every reasonably similar-looking ginger from India to Thailand. Finally, in 2013, a group of taxonomists looked at live specimens, only to discover that there were actually five different species involved in what was known as B. longiflora. Boesenbergia hamiltonii was one of those plants that came out of the divorce, which is great, since it’s the most winter hardy member of the clan. Here is our plant in light shade at JLBG, where it flowers for months during the summer.
Flowering now in the garden is the little-known Hedychium deceptum, which translates to deceived ginger. Discovered in 1922 by UK plantsman HJ Elwes of galanthus fame, it was initially identified as Hedychium greenii, until taxonomists realized that it was not the same as that taxon, so to commerate their confusion/deception, they coined the name Hedychium deceptum. Hedychium deceptum languished in a UK herbarium (where they keep dead, smashed plants) until it was recollected over 45 years later and named Hedychium rubrum. It was 46 more years before it was realized that there were two names for the same plant, with the earlier Hedychium deceptum having priority. We should have enough of this to share for the first time in the 2022 Plant Delights catalog. We don’t have much in the way of good hardiness data, so we’re guessing Zone 7b/8a.
Late June is when the amazing hidden cone gingers (curcuma) begin to explode here at JLBG. Here is our clump of Curcuma ‘Pink Wonder’ this week emerging from what looked like a bare patch of ground in the woodland garden. After the flowers finish, the red-striped foliage explodes to 6-7′ tall.
It’s hard to believe that it is already time for our 2019 Fall Open Nursery & Garden Days! My how time flies.
During each day of our Open Nursery & Garden Days, we offer a free garden chat as part of our educational outreach, “Gardening Unplugged”. These are 15 minute discussions walking through the gardens, focusing on seasonally prominent topics, plants and garden design ideas. Join Tony and our expert horticultural staff as we explore all that nature has to offer. Meet at the Welcome Tent near the parking lot to join us!
This Fall topics include:
When will they develop scratch and sniff smart phones?
“I’ll never forget my first encounter as a preteen with Hedychium coronarium, when my dad took me to the garden of a local gardener, Rachel Dunham. There, in the midst of her lawn was a huge clump of hardy ginger plant in full flower. I was amazed how a plant that looked so tropical and had such fragrant flowers could be so winter hardy and easy to grow. Since Mrs. Dunham was overly generous, I went home with a huge sack of plants for my own garden. As with every OCD gardener, this would mark only the beginning of my hedychium collecting phase, which continues today. Thirty five years later, I would finally see ginger lilies in the wild on a botanical expedition to North Vietnam.” Tony Avent
Join Tony, Saturday September 21 at 10:00am, during our 2019 Fall Open Nursery & Garden Days as he talks about the scent-sational ginger lilies at Juniper Level Botanic Garden.
