Has Anyone Grown These Before

I bought two of these bulbous plants this afternoon.Is there anyone who has grown these before?

At the moment they are in my conservatory but not sure whether to leave them there or put them in a southfacing part of the garden....Thanks

PS The other one I have bought is called Dixter but as there wasn't a label with it not sure what colour it is going to turn out when it does flower....

 

Hi Marley,Thanks for the info:thumb:.I had a sneaky idea they might be Ginger because I seem to remember seeing them a couple of years ago in one of the GC's but never bought one.:rolleyes:

I will bring them both indoors and put them in the spare bedroom over winter but don't know how I i'll manage when they get bigger:eek: Some of the other ones on display had already split open the flower pot they were in.:eek:I have bought them for their colour and the scent of the flowers:thumb:

Yes Dixter is a smaller plant than the orange one though there are no flowers yet on that one yet.I just showed the photo of yours to Mr Kandy and he did a :thumb: that we have picked another good plant.:D

I will probably split them up next year and then put some of the rooted bits in my South facing part of the garden and see if they survive the winter...Watch this space

 

Kandy, the densiflorum is pretty hardy.
Its survived in my garden for at least ten yrs unprotected.
Having said that, it makes sence, as you say to pick a sheltered spot.

Mine is growing in dry shade under a largish deciduous tree, and flowers well.



Your Dixter looks good marley:thumb:

 

If you lift the ginger root out of the pot in winter and keep it dark and dry. Then cut the root up like a potato in spring, re-pot and feed and water it will grow again.

 

I'll bet thats pretty tender marley.
Is it scented

Are you bringing some back with you, accidentally stuck inside a shoe or something?:D

Kandy, if you pollenate the densiflorum, you get bright red berries form later

 

Got three gingers growing at the moment from seed one is alpina zumpret (shell ginger) the other two not a clue they were in a packet of mixed seeds none of them flowered yet so it will be a nice surprise when they do.

 

Pete,I will have a go at pollinating the plant and see what I come up with.If the weather had been decent I could have put it put today to let the bees do it but we have heavy rain so shan't bother.It will be interesting to see what happens.Your border full look really good and settled:thumb:

RG interting piece of information.Looking at both the plants I don't think I will have a problem proporgating them.I have just remembered I have a large Chines looking pot stored somewhere in either the house or garage.It will make a nice feature for either one of them

Marley.Costus Speciosa looks a really good one.Wouldn't mind one of theose myself:thumb:

 

Seed on densiflorum.

 

Hedychium densiflorum is one of the hardier 'gingers' and should overwinter in most parts especially if given a decent mulch in autumn. It is bone hardy in the south and needs no protection. Years ago, I raised quite a few from seed of a fine orange form (not Assam Orange) that I've had growing here since 1990. Most were identical to the parent, a few were poorer in colour and vigour, but one or two were outstanding improvements. My favourite is a very vigorous pale terra cotta that has almost architecturally structured flower spikes:

It flowers several times throughout summer starting in June and carrying on until October. The foliage is very lush and turns a wonderful glowing amber as the plant dies down for the winter. It is a very good form with larger flowers than the type and if it had any fragrance, I would consider it better that Hedychium 'Stephen'. I've got seedlings from the pollen of this onto a very good form of H. spicatum (P. Bon 57188) which will flower next year and I'm all agog. Lord knows what will turn up, but I think there'll be something very good out of them.
Another seedling - this one a good golden yellow again with good foliage and larger flowers than the parent:

And finally the nearest to a true red densiflorum that I've managed to raise so far, albeit with poor flower form and too thin an inflorescence :

Flower and spike size needs more work so I've selfed this to get a better spike (but not such good colour) and have back-crossed onto the parent in the hope of getting improved spikes and flower size with the stronger colour. I should know whether it has been worth the effort next year.

A comment made in one reply suggests storing the rhizomes dry over winter. I'd advise against this since they can completely dry out very easily, which results in them taking a very long time to commence into growth if they do so at all. Ideally they should be stored in very slightly damp soil in a frost free spot. Hedychiums can take a season to settle after being divided, so don't be in a hurry to take the knife to them. Let the rhizomes build up first.

 

So your actively breeding them Dave.
You seem to be having some good results as well.
The one in the second pic looks very interesting as far as I'm concerned, pity no scent but then we dont get those warm evening to appreciate them much lately.

I think we really need earlier flowering gingers in the UK.
After all who wants something that flowers in late oct, when the weather is crap.

 

I've eased off over the past few years Pete - they take a lot of room because you need to grow quite a few, many of which will turn out to be worthless. An agent has expressed interest in having some for trials and eventual introduction, but I don't think any are quite up to the mark just yet. I want larger, brighter flowers and fragrance and hardiness and early flowering. I'll just keep plugging on.

This is something I have to keep reminding myself about, because all but the very latest flowering varieties are usually in flower by August here and in most years we get pleasantly warm evenings well into late September. The one in the 2nd. pic would be good if the spike was longer, but it's a short fat affair. I'm keeping it because I may need to use its colour influence. The foliage is very good though - leaf blades up to 45cms. long and 15cms across.

Agreed, but I'm also glad to have them continuing to flower into October or even early winter. 'Corellii' (the one in my avatar) often carries spikes well into December and I cut a few of them for indoors. The fragrance once inside is amazing.