Hedychiums

Clearing the now frost touched stems of my ginger lilies this morning made me realise how much I enjoy these very tropical looking perennials. Even in their now brownish state they still look quite interesting.

Rhizomatous perennials from eastern Asia, I only grow a few of the hardier species and varieties.  I'd grow more if I had the room but, alas, space is lacking.  Although their footprint is reasonably compact the tall summer stems, clad with large, undivided leaves, can easily reach 6ft / 180cm or more in the taller varieties. Related to bananas and true gingers, the stems are formed by the overlapping leaf bases, with new foliage emerging from the centre of the elongating stem until, finally, the flower heads emerge.

With me, the earliest to flower is Hedychium 'Stephen', usually by early August.  I actually photographed this clump in my garden in 2012.  13 years later the clump is still extant though the rhizomes have wandered around a bit, been divided (best left till spring), suffered quite heavy frost at times but are still going well. 

The individual flowers are faintly scented, don't last long, but progressively open up the elongated flower head.  Expect about five days flowering per stem, with individual stems maturing at slightly different rates to prolong the season.

Hedychium 'Tara' is, arguably, even more attractive, with big heads of orange flowers above even taller stems.  A statement plant even before it flowers, it's more reliably clump forming than 'Stephen'.

Again, the individual flowers don't last that long, but a decent sized clump can be in flower for a fortnight, usually by early September in my garden. 

If 'Tara' has a failing, it's a lack of scent, not something that can be said about the next two.  I bought my next Hedychium as 'Pink Hybrid' from Hardy Exotics, near Penzance in Cornwall.  I'm not sure of the naming - there does seem to be a lot of confusion - but it's thrived for years in what must be the coldest spot in my garden.  Whatever it is, it's powerfully scented - as long as it flowers before frost has a chance to hit.

It's also, as Hedychium's go, fairly long flowering, with multiple flowers emerging in turn from. the individul buds in the head,

This a characteristic sharde with the equally well scented Kahili ginger, Hedychium gardnerianum.  I grow this one in a large tub at present but it seems to be hardy with me so, as I've recently cleared a space by my south facing back wall, it can go in there, hopefully to clump up and produce increaing numbers of the impressive flower heads.

The final Hedychium I currently grow is H.greenii.  I've written about this one before so I won't go into detail - but here's a picture from the garden taken late September.  It's another late flowering one.

With all of these it's important to leave the clumps in one place for as long as possible.  The rhizomes need time to build up the energy needed to produce the tallest stems and maximum flower heads.  And be aware that they can late to resprout in the spring, often hardly visible till June.  Apart from that a good mulch over the rhizomes in winter; moist, ferile soil; and a position in sun or late shade suits them well.  They certainly provide the tropical touch to any garden.

 

I have keikis!

From the Hawaian for "baby" or "child", literally "the little one"*.

Normally it's applied to young plantlets that develop on orchids but it's also used for the plantlets that can develop on the spent flower heads of Hedychium greenii.

Have I mentioned that this 2013-14 winter has been very mild?  Mild enough that those of my Hedychiums that would normally be evergreen in warmer climates have overwintered with foliage intact. Rather tatty, I admit, but present.  H.coccineum 'Tara', H. gardnerianum, H.'Pink Hybrid' and H.greenii still have last year's leaves.  Which means they are shooting early - normally it's at the end of May - and that last year's flower heads from H.greenii are developing the adventitious plantlets that, if left to develop and then removed and nurtured, will produce new plants.

Keikis on Hedychium greenii

A first for me.

I've grown H.greenii outside for about fifteen years now.  I thought I'd lost it in the bad winters about ten years back and again three and four years ago but it's tougher than often credited and enough of the rhizomes survived to provide a nucleus for recovery.  Outside in the UK flowering is a bonus, often occurring so late in the year that it risks wipe out by the first frosts.  Container growing helps but even this can be overtaken by events.  Not this winter.  This was mine last November.

Hedychium greenii in flower in November

However attractive, Hedychium flowers are fleeting.  A brief fortnight - sometimes as little as a week - and most of them are done.  No problem if successive stems are developing but in cool wet England it's a once a year opportunity.  But all Hedychiums are attractive in foliage and H.greenii is one of the best.

Pseudostems elongate during the summer to an eventual height of about 4ft / 120cm or more, with broad, glossy, dark green leaves stained dark red on the underside unfurling progressively as the stems lengthen.  They have a definite tropical appearance.  Planted en masse - as with the shot below - they are extremely attractive without ever needing to flower.

Hedychium greenii foliage at Coleton Fishacre, Devon

It helps to have space to develop a substantial clump, warmth and constant moisture - these are subtropical marsh plants in the wild - but even a small group of stems produces a very interesting effect in the summer and autumn garden.  And for colder climates they respond well to pot growing and a frost free winter home.

*Thanks Wikipedia

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day November 2012

Another 15th of the month and another blog entry in the Garden Bloggers' Bloom day series.  It being mid November at 50degrees north there aren't a lot of flowers around in the garden.  But there are a few, some holdovers from summer, some flowering for the first time this year and in their season.

Newly in flower since last month is a quintet of plants that rarely disappoint at this time of year.  Jasminium nudiflorum, the yellow flowered Winter jasmine offers bright colour just as everything else seems to fade.  Last year it flowered early.  This year it's back to a more normal sequence, beginning at the start of November.  It's a lax shrub, usually grown against a wall and tied into a support - the way I grow it - but it can also be used as a low, ground covering scrambler.  I still remember a visit to the old cliff gardens in Torquay one winter's day in the early 80's when this plant spread a yellow carpet across and down large areas of the garden.

Jasminium nudiflorum

A true climber, Clematis cirrhosa 'Freckles' can flower intermittently for most of the year but really starts to get into its stride as the days shorten.  I've mentioned this one before, hardly surprisingly as it does have such a long period, but its worth noting that its the only Clematis that I have no difficulty with.  I've grown a fair few over the years and they've all succumbed.  It may be my acid soil or, more likely, my rapacious gastropods but they do not prosper here.

Clematis cirrhosa 'Freckles'

Fatsia japonica I grow as a large leaved, exotic looking shrub, not for its flowers.  But you can't miss them in November.  Pompom heads of pure white flowers that open to provide an abundant nectar source at a time of year when little else is in flower.  Even though the weather is getting colder there are still flies, hoverflies and even the odd red admiral butterfly on the wing during the warmer days and this - and the closely related ivy - provide sustenance.

Fatsia japonica flower heads

My fourth newcomer is more exotic.  Hedychium greenii, the most tropical looking of the relatively hardy ginger lilies.  Upright pseudostems with glossy green, maroon backed leaves would be worth a place in the garden even it never flowered.  Some years it doesn't, leaving bud formation so late that they're caught by frost before they open.  This year looks a bit less dodgy.  I've a few stems with buds ready to pop and no frost forecast for a week.  Having said that I wasn't even sure if I should include it as the first bud was due to open this morning but got eaten.  No matter, here's a shot from warmer years.

Hedychium greenii

Final flower amongst the new sprung winter set is Rosemary, Rosemarinus officianalis.  We have a plant outside the back door so I can pick fresh growth for cooking.  It's old, straggly - and flowers on and off through the winter.  Individually, the flowers are quite fascinating, but very small.  The shot below was taken at 1:1 (life size on the sensor) macro ratio and even two flowers don't quite fill the frame.  If you look closely there is even a little springtail insect on the right hand flower.

Rosemary in flower

I still have many of the earlier, summer flowers producing a display.  Passiflora caerulea is twining up the now leafless cherry, Abutilons 'Waltz' and 'Patrick Synge' continue to throw out their dangling bells, my fuchsias won't stop flowering till frost hits, Hydrangea 'Mme Emile Mouillere' is still producing white mopheads on the newest growth, and I've a couple of pelargoniums and petunias bravely defying the ever cooling nights to add a little colour.  But winter is fast approaching and their flowering days are numbered.  But in the meantime the true winter flowerers - my camellias, mahonia, Iris unguicularis, hellebores and others are showing signs that their display will brighten the darker days.  But more of that in December's Garden Bloggers Blooms Day.

As always, my thanks to May Dreams Gardens for hosting the Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day meme.  Head over there to see what's flowering in many more gardens round the world.