Hedychium

A hardy Ginger relative from our seed collection just a long days drive from the Tibetan border. Narrow petals of white and peach are floral whimsy and always manage to coax a smile out of us. The unscented flowers compensate for that lack by having one of the showiest seed displays in the genus. This collection seems to be distinctly shorter than other forms of spicatum we grow. Mulch in winter.

A recent collection of this Zingiberaceae which we have not yet identified. A graceful species with relatively narrow leaves and very pleasing melon colored flowers. This is from fairly low elevation and growing both as a terrestrial and as an epiphyte. In zone 8 gardens, we would mulch well to keep frost from reaching the rhizomes. Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy Collection

One of the most satisfying and reliable of the hardy Gingers. We've grown this Nepalese beauty for years now and it always blooms in mid to late summer with flowers of the most gentle orange. This is a good increaser in moist loose soil and looks marvelous in half sun or bright shade. This does not need a long warm Fall to flower but relishes our cool pseudosummers here in the Puget Sound. We mulch ours in the fall to keep frost for reaching the rhizome and basically other than that we just water and feed it. Very low care.

These are robust plants from seed collected by Chris Chadwell in northern India in 2012. Chris is extremely knowledgeable on the flora of Nepal, Kashmir and northwest India having done nearly 30 extensive botanical expeditions to those areas. This species is particularly interesting to us, as not only is it perfectly hardy for us in our gardens but it extends the geography in our accessions: it joins our shorter-stature 2003 collection from near eastern Bhutan, along with our 2006 collection from Sichuan. We like geeking out on a species and when we can observe the various expressions of morphology as influenced by the diversity of its range, it really doesn't get much better for us. Safe to say we get a "botanical flush". Anyway, this hardy true ginger relative is good down to zone 7b with enough mulch for short durations to single digits and happy in bright shade to mostly sun. This species blooms reliably for us every year outside and makes us very happy in October with its open spires of white crane fly flowers highlighted by salmon-pink working parts. Moist with drainage.

Small winter-flowering species collected by Kettle and Wynn-Jones on Mt Fansipan in northern Vietnam. This is nice little ginger given varietal status due to its larger flowers and much larger sagittate anthers. Sagittate anther envy - it happens even in the plant world. Stems to 28" with very nice spidery white lightly scented flowers with reddish bracts. One of the evergreen species and best suited to frost-free conditions but does great in containers and easy to bring in during cold snaps - we keep ours just above freezing in the winter during the cold dips. Collectable rarity and worth trying indoors if you don't live in the Bay Area.

A distinct Hardy Ginger with leaves and flowers evoking Canna more so than any other in the genus. Gorgeous foliage and the flowers although few are quite large and a striking reddish orange. Likes a moist spot in the garden and can take full sun to part shade. Winter mulch.

This is from a Floden-Mitchell-Wynn-Jones 2011 collection in northern Vietnam which they thought was H. tengchongense, but upon flowering proved to be H. spicatum which was not known to occur in Vietnam. While it would have been great to have the tengchongense, H. spicatum is a better garden performer here being reliably hardy. Unscented spidery white and coral flowers that turn into brilliant red seed pods that are arguably the showiest in the genus.

This is one had thought was Hedychium spicatum var. spicatum but are now thinking it is H. yunnanense. This is a much larger plant than any of our spicatum collections getting to over 5' tall and has a much larger and denser inflorescence packed with far more flowers - up to thirty. The flowers resemble spicatum in their shape and white and coral colors and the resultant orange-red fruit is also very similar.