Tropicals & Tender Perennials: Stumped by non-blooming butterfly gingers, 1 by gingersrus

gingersrus wrote:
How about that! That explains why it did not flower for you. As I guessed it is an Alpinia - not a Hedychium at all. They only flower on second year mature growth, usually in spring. I can't tell for sure which species from your photo. Looks like it is upright (not pendent) which eliminates the most common, Alpinia zerumbet. Could be you have A. henryi or possibly the very rare blooming Alpinia nutans. I finally bloomed my Alpinia nutans last year for the first time after having grown it for eight years! Photos and more at http://www.gingersrus.com/DataSheet.php?PID=3235 .

Dave Skinner
http://www.gingersrus.com

Photo below was taken May 23, 2006 - first flowers on 8 year old Alpinia nutans.