Hardy Gingers

If you are bored with Cannas try these Cautleya spicata





My cannas have dwindled from being left out in pots all winter but these have never flinched. Very lazy exotics if you cant be bothered with cannas. I am growing cannas from seed these days as I find them more vibrant and strong than the overwintered, stored cannas i have done in the past.

Just a thought.

BM favourite :D :D :D

 

Very nice BM, not tried cautleya, usually grow a couple of types of hedychium though.

 

Thanks pete, wanted to try out gingers having been a canna addict. Was given a small piece of Cautleya spicata and done nothing with it appart from put it in the pot you can see. Chick manure and good compost totally self sufficient. It a really is a good alternative to the canna as I was getting increasingly lazy with bringing them in. Still grow a few cannas like cleopatra, pretoria and musifolia but not on the scale I had 3 years ago. A great replacement!!! :D

 

I had a ginger given to me by Martins Aunt - she used to live in africa and brought all sort of stuff back. anyway it ided and I would love to replace it for the scent alone as it was heavenly, problem is I have not idea what it was.

I have Hedychium Spicatum Pete, I may be tempted to try another try another.

 

I also had quite a collection of cannas, but they suddenly became less vigorus and the leaves became marked. Then I read in the RHS journal about a virus that affected cannas and it looked remarkably similar to my problem so I got rid of all of the two years ago.
I dont know Hedychium Spicatum Waco, the best one I have found is Gardnerianum, its not too tall for pots and it has a good scent, also grow Densiflorum which is hardy without a mulch here, but it has no scent.
There are a lot more types available these days but I dont have enough space to try them.

 

Yes well pete - kent is a different world to up here!

Have just spent all day ungerdening great plots of flower beds - just can't stand the "common stuuf" anymore, will probably regret it all after a hard winter!

 

You might get some plesant suprises.

 

Hedychiums are amongst my most favourite of plants since they are excellent and reliable performers here in Devon. H. gardnerianum grows to about 5 or 6 feet here depending upon summer heat and produces great rugby-ball sized heads of heavily fragrant, soft yellow flowers in July, August and September. H. coccineum 'Tara' is very hardy, growing to 6 feet or more with big spikes of vivid orange-scarlet flowers at more or less the same time. They are faintly, but sweetly fragrant late in the day.

Hedychiums gardnerianum & coccineum 'Tara'



H. flavescens is a bit shorter with brush-like heads of pale yellow flowers fading to near white. These too are very sweetly fragant, but usually appear in September through to November or later.

Hedychium flavescens



Possibly the hardiest of them all is a big bruiser of a plant currently under the name of H. forrestii, but we already know it must be something else. It races to 8 or 10 feet, with large leaves on very stout stems. By late July these terminate in loose heads of white flowers that are intensely narcissus scented.

Hedychium 'forrestii'



Finally, even though there's no fragrance, Hedychium greenii is a must for me. It is the latest to flower and so definitely falls into the autumn colour category. Growing to around 6 feet, it produces compact heads of large, rich red flowers that last longer than any of the other species. The foliage is lush and softly leathery and as an added bonus, the stems and leaf undersides are a deep glossy mahogany colour. It's not a very hardy species and is too late to flower outside in the north, but it makes a fabulous specimen for a large pot and will happily live in a frost-free greenhouse or conservatory.

Hedychium greenii

 

Just a few more...

This first is possibly the finest form of Hedychium spicatum currently doing the rounds. It was collected originally as Hedychium yunnanense and for a while was sold as that by Crug farm. A very hardy plant, maybe to 5 or 6 feet with large, lush leaves and elegant stems. The spidery flowers are heavily scented, to about 3" across and age to butter-yellow over 2 or 3 days. Flowers in July - September even in the north.

Hedychium spicatum P Bon 57188


Hedychium densiflorum was mentioned earlier. As with spicatum, it is one of the hardier Hedychiums and perfectly capable of performing well in most regions. Depending upon local climate it flowers from late June to September and early flowerers will continue pushing up new stems and flowers well into October. After the flower come the seed capsule, which open to reveal vivid mandarin orange insides, set with glistening ruby red 'berries'. Most forms are orange-red, but here are a couple of seedlings I selected a few years ago. The first is a really good yellow, but with poor foliage, so I'm only using it as a pollen donor. The second is a rather aristocratic form with 8 inch long, elegant, almost architectural spikes of flower in a subtle coral salmon shade and extremely good foliage. I'm using this as a mother plant in the hope of introducing stronger colours to this configuration.

Hedychium densiflorum 'yellow' with seed capsules


Hedychium densiflorum 'coral seedling'


[ 04. June 2006, 09:20 AM: Message edited by: DaveP ]

 

Very impressive Dave what are the chances of Hedychium Spicata surviving a winter up here in Cheshire I may give it a try

 

Spicatum is fine in N. Wales and several parts of Cheshire, so i reckon your chances are very, very high. A 3" deep mulch of leaf litter/garden compost applied in autumn virtually ensures survival.

 

I'm also impressed Dave, thats a nice collection.

 

oh I like the H. greenii - very dramatic! does it have a good scent? Must watxh out for it.

 

Sorry - forgot to say - great pictures, thanks.

 

Unfortunately, there's no scent, but it is extremely impressive when several to many stems are in flower. Happily, it does very well in containers and is evergreen if kept a few degrees above freezing. Unlike any other Hedychiums, the old flower heads produce young plantlets, which when they have a few leaves, can be detached and grown on.