Autumn Gingers
Posted: October 20, 2021 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Automatic Gardening, butterfly ginger, Costus barbatus, gingers, Globba Schomburgkii, Gulf Coast gardening, Hedychium coronarium, Hedychium hybrid "Pink V", Hedychium thysiforme, shampoo ginger, spiral ginger, Subtropical Gardening, Yellow Dancing Lady Ginger, Zingiber zerumber 15 Comments
I was on vacation this summer when my gingers bloomed, missing the jewels of my garden. Thankfully, the gingers must have missed me too and put on some end of summer flowers. Above is the white Maximum Ginger that formed a pretty wreath of flowers around its cone.
Pink V, which doesn’t look very pink to me, has bloomed in two of my beds.
White Butterfly Ginger, which smells divine, was the first ginger of my collection given to me by my mother-in-law.
Shampoo Ginger will turn dark red and it was actually used to wash hair. I haven’t tried it.
The Yellow Dancing Lady was coming to the end of its blooming season, but I find the bulbils interesting. As the rabbits have disappeared from my yard, I have colonies of them coming up everywhere. Like most gingers, they need light shade in this zone and some did not pick the correct place to grow and got sunburned.
The Spiral Ginger struggled for awhile, but has really grown and reproduced during the last few years. Even though I missed the big show of blooms, I am pleased that a few gingers bloomed late for my enjoyment.
Just Gingers
Posted: July 19, 2020 Filed under: Gardening | Tags: Automatic Gardening, cucuma hybrid, curcuma parviflora, Gardening, gingers, Gulf Coast gardening, Hedychium coccineum, Hedychium coronarium, Hedychium hybrid "Pink V", Hedychium thysiforme, Kaempferia Alva, Kaempferia loatica Brush Strokes, Southern Gardening, subtropical climate, Subtropical Gardening, Year-round gardening 17 Comments_________________________________
Gingers have worked out really well in the Automatic Garden. They are happy in the gumbo soil (heavy clay) and are troopers in the heat and cold. Best of all, the plants reproduce on their own. When other flowers are taking their summer rest, Gingers really shine.
White Angel (Curcuma parviflora) is my most reliable bloomer and has never let me down in the many years it has graced the garden. The original plant grows larger every year and has reproduced.
*Run your cursor over the photos for names or click to enlarge photos for the slide show.
Fall Fragrances
Posted: October 28, 2019 Filed under: Gardening | Tags: Automatic Gardening, Bartram's Oenothera grandiflora, Gardening, Gulf Coast gardening, Hedychium thysiforme, Maximum Hedychium, Oenothera grandiflora, Osmanthus fragrans, Southern Gardening, subtropical climate, Subtropical Gardening, Sweet Olive Tree, William Bartram, x Maximum, Year-round gardening 17 Comments
Flower scents are more commonly associated with Spring, but this Fall, my garden plants are really full of fragrances. The Sweet Olive, Osmanthus fragrans, bloomed with a multitude of tiny flowers that completely filled the yard with their strong scent.
I am having my house painted and the painters apparently, spent the day trying to figure out which plant was making the wonderful perfume that could be smelled over the paint odor.
The climbing rose prefers to bloom when the weather cools. It attracts the bees and hummingbirds. The scent becomes strong at different times of the day.
As I mentioned in a previous post, the Gingers have been reblooming with sweet scents. This one is Maximun Hedychium.
The Evening Primrose, Oenothera grandiflora, is hanging on with its unusual scented blooms lasting longer in the cooler weather. I don’t know if it was the heavy rains we had that stimulated these plants to flower more, but it has been a Fall filled with fragrances.
After the Rains
Posted: October 29, 2015 Filed under: Gardening | Tags: Automatic Gardening, Camellia sasanquas, Confederate Rose, Gardening, Ginger, Gulf Coast gardening, Hedychium thysiforme, Hibiscus mutabilis, Japanese Anemone, Year-round gardening 10 Comments
While away, the remnants of Hurricane Patricia blew through and dropped over 8 inches of rain on the garden. It was surprising to see the Confederate Rose (Hibiscus mutabilis) had retained its buds and was still blooming.
I was able to document the flowers’ color changes. The Confederate Rose begins the morning white and goes through shades of pink until finally turning to a rosy color. (click to enlarge)
Other bloomers that survived the rain are Japanese Anemone and Camellia Sasanqua. The Anemone grows on long graceful stems and this type of Camellia has a wonderful scent.
And surprisingly, the Hedychium thyrsiforme “x maximum” Ginger was not knocked over and had a full bloom on it.
Of course, not all went well with the high winds and rain. A large branch came down and a bed of flowers were flatten (too ugly to show). But all in all, the garden held up well.
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