John & Maria's Garden Pages

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.