Ginger Snap

Heat, humidity and heavy rainfall are the conditions that the gingers love.  That's just the kind of weather we've been having around My Garden Path and the many types of gingers grown here are thriving.

Hedychium 'Sherry Baby'

The butterfly gingers, bloomed a few weeks back.  Both the peach colored and the white are very heavily scented and fill up the back garden with sweet perfume.  The bloom cycle only lasts for two weeks and that makes it all the more special.

Hedychium coronarium

The pinecone gingers are doing very well down in the boggy area.  They are spreading happily and sending up those interesting blooms.  The blooms are actually small flowers that pop out of the "cone" when it is still green.  As the cones turn red I like to cut them to use in flower arrangements for the house.

Zingiber zerumbet

There is a creamy substance inside the cones that has a sweet smell and gives these gingers their other nickname, 'shampoo ginger.'

Costus barbatus

I'm so happy to see the Costus returning after being killed to the ground this winter. When winters are mild this ginger will stay green and then bloom in early spring. The blooms are tall red towers that last all summer. Even without the flowers, the velvety soft leaves and spiraling stems make this ginger a favorite of mine.

Alpinia zerumbet


The shell gingers bloom in the spring in heavy dripping bunches.  The solid green takes the sun well at the edge of the bog garden but it was hit hard this past winter with frost.  The variegated version loves the shade and wasn't fazed in the least by either of the past cold winters.  I have divided both of these gingers and spread them in front of the fence to give more background to the other plantings.

Alpinia zerumbet 'variegata'

Another ginger that I have divided and spread around all over the shady area is a beautiful 'hidden' ginger.  I divided and moved the clumps last fall.  This spring when I expected to see fuchsia blooms I was very disappointed.  No blooms on any of the plants this year.  I'm hoping they just need to get settled in after their move and that they will all bloom this coming spring.

Curcuma zedoaria

All the gingers in the garden have sweetly scented stems and rhizomes as well as beautiful blooms.  It's the leaves that I love though.  Some disappear for the winter, some stay right on through the cold season, but they all lend tropical flair to my summer garden.

Sitting in the Shade

With the cooler temperatures that have come about since the beginning of September, sitting in the shady part of the garden is once again a pleasant way to spend some quiet time.  Cool is a relative term I suppose.  The daytime highs have been in the mid to high eighties with night temperatures being in the mid seventies. 

So many of the plants in the garden are enjoying this time of year as much as the gardener.  Sitting here,  I notice the Curcumas are as tall as the six-foot fence.  The Butterfly Gingers and the Pinecone Gingers are nearly as tall.  Since all of them will be going dormant for the winter season, I want to sit and appreciate them for all they are giving to the garden right now. 

Persian Shield, Forsythia Sage, Shrimp Plants, how many of these will last through this winter's cold spell?  Past years have seen these plants going semi-dormant but not disappearing altogether.  That is, past years not including the most recent.  Oh how I fear the corner becoming nothing but oak leaf mulch as it was this past January through March.

Some plants were added to give the area at least a minimal amount of green this winter.  Cast Iron plants are cold hardy and several clumps have been placed throughout the corner plantings.  Both Variegated and Green Liriope were planted as a border to define the area.  Two Holly Fern were placed within the corner plantings as well.  But what about the Schefflera, the Bleeding Heart Clerodendrum, and the Cat Palms?  How will they react to a cold winter blast?

Ah, well, this is the best time of the year for this area of the garden.  This shady corner has been growing in beauty all summer and now has reached its peak.  Seasons change and so will the garden.  Everything that seemed gone forever in January has returned with enthusiasm. 

The huge live-oak that gives the area its shade will stand strong through the cold continuing to provide cover for all the birds which frequent the feeders and birdbaths during all the seasons of the year.

Providing feeders with fresh seed and birdbaths with fresh water ensures that these colorful visitors will stay around through all the seasons.

Now is the time I have been given to enjoy this spot.  The scent of the Butterfly Ginger blooms, the ripening beauty of the Pinecone Ginger cones are only available now, in this season.  The buds on the Forsythia Sage promising yellow spires of blooms, the reddening bracts on the Red Shrimp plants are only for this time. 

As I continue to sit in this special corner of my garden, I realize I'm learning to listen.

"So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom."

Psalm 90:12

Late Summer Fragrance

Just as I step off the backporch  I catch a whiff of a heavenly perfume.  Every summer I eagerly anticipate the blooming of the Butterfly Ginger, Hedychium coronarium.  This year, the first to bloom is the cultivar 'Sherry Baby' which is a golden peach in color and oh, so fragrant.

There is another Butterfly Ginger which blooms white blooms that are just as fragrant.  The White Butterfly Gingers at My Garden Path haven't even formed buds yet.  It is hoped they will be coming into bloom just a little later in the summer which will extend the time for enjoying their delicious scent. 

The blossoms are beautiful to look at and their fragrance travels quite far.  The leaves give off a distinctly gingery scent when bruised.  This is not a culinary ginger but is a close relative.  Usually, spent flowers are deadheaded right away in order to keep a neat appearance in the garden.  This year, however, the blooms will be left on the stand of ginger in anticipation of  collecting seeds.

(Hedychium coronarium)

Click on the link above to read more information about this plant.  It grows under the big live oak here at My Garden Path and borders the area of the garden that can become boggy.  Both 'Sherry Baby' and the White Butterfly Gingers seem to be very happy in the dappled shade. 

They Made It!

I know that whining about the big freeze has been very much overdone at My Garden Path, so today I declare that I am officially over it. 

Clockwise from Top Left - Fig, Firespike, Butterfly Ginger, Papyrus, Crinum, Ice Cream Banana

Many of the plants I thought were never to be seen again have begun to push through the oak leaf mulch.  Soon they will back better than ever just as they were last spring.

Clockwise from Top Left Ending in the Middle - Cat's Whisker, Penta, Canna, Tibouchina, Passion Vine, Grand NainxSumatrana Banana, Butterfly Cassia


The list of plants not showing signs of life is very short:  a few Hibiscus, Firebush, Pseuderanthemum, Clerodendrum.  By the end of March if they haven't woken up they will be replaced with other more cold hardy specimens.  The only one I will really miss is the Firebush, so I may get another of those for the hummingbirds.


At last, I'm able to go out into the garden and see life and growth!