I have a patch of these in my yard and they are just beautiful. I would love to know the name of this. thanks in advance!
If you want it to bloom heavily next year, go into the patch and cut out anything that isn't green. Your yard will reek like the flowers (not a bad thing, in my opinion) for about a day, and the patch will start throwing new cane, which means new flowers next summer. I don't know if I mentioned it in the blog, but if you like the scent, Shell Ginger makes a unique cut flower; take about 6-8" of the cane below the blossoms and put it in sweet water. Indoors they last about a week and perfume your house for the duration. You can also have a boo at the rhizome - is this a contained patch, ie with stone or cement borders, or is it just a loose patch? If you've got it contained, a judicious harvesting of some of the rhizome (you can use this like regular ginger in your kitchen) may help the planting as well - it will be slightly less crammed.
Lorax - It is in a patch - it is pretty big. I have attached more pictures. I am guessing about a 8x10ft patch - I thank you so much for sharing all this info. yes there are lots of brown in the patch that i will have to get in there and get it gone. You are great! thanks again!
Ahah! Pruning will do that patch a world of good, and next year it should bloom profusely. If you want to contain it, so that it doesn't run everywhere (and it will try) you can start harvesting edge rhizome when you do the prune-back. I wouldn't take more than you're going to use in about a week, at any one time.
I just may have to get in there this weekend and cut it back some and get the brown out! Thanks again EVER so much for all the info!
No worries! The folks here actually ID'd this same plant for me about a year ago, and armed with that I was able to turn up all sorts of useful stuff!
I love all kinds of different plants and i am very interested in this UBC site but just not too savy on all the terms - when you said:"... harvesting edge rhizome ..." - exactly what part is this? The root? I have been reading up on this and it sounds like it is a very helpful plant!
I do mean the root, but in the case of most Zingiberaceae (the family that Shell Ginger belongs to) this is a shallow-growing, laterally spreading, fibrous thing. Technically, rhizomes spread horizontally, and are swollen stems. You are correct to call them roots as well - the other name for a rhizome is creeping rootstock. I actually had to look that up, lol! I'm so used to lilies and breaking up their rhizomes every fall, that the term has become a permanent part of my vocab.... Stick around - we're all plant nuts here, and there's not a better community of us out there.
Oh i plan on sticking around and posting more pictures of what i have to know what they are and how to care for them. I will also pass this site on to a couple of family members that will LOVE it here!! Thanks again and if i have anything more i need i will be sure to ask you!
Hey, ask us all. I'm primarily a tropical plant nut, which is fortuitous given where I live. Other people here have different specialties, as you will learn, and we also have several catchall experts who are professional botanists in real life.
