Texas Gardening: Do I want to be black and blue?, 1 by htop

htop wrote:
My "black and Blue" salvia likes bright filtered sunlight. It is in a large container because I didn't want it to run. Being in a container, I have to water it more than if it were in the ground. I thought it had died during the winter when the lows were in the lower teens here. It was slow to emerge from its roots; however, it is now doing great as always. I moved it where I can see it more and now realize how much the hummers love the blooms. My daughter bought me some aqua globes and I'm going to place a large one in the container and move the plant to where it receives more morning sun because it is getting a bit leggy.

My variegated ginger (Alpinia zerumbet 'Variegata') only blooms on second year growth when we have mild winters and it doesn't freeze back or I'm able to protect it from freezing weather. It was so large this winter, I didn't protect it so it froze down completely. It is back up; however, it is slow growing. All of my gingers survived the cold winter whether or not they were in the ground. None were protected during the winter. Sometimes finding the spot where a ginger will bloom is tricky. Mine can't take full sun because they'll burn. But, if they don't get enough light, they will not bloom. They do well on the east side of my yard where they receive a lot of morning sun and no afternoon sun at all. My ginger lilies have never bloomed nor has my "Dr. Moy" ginger. 'Dr. Moy' is a hybrid of H. flavum and H. coccineum that was bred by the retired botanist Dr. Ying Doon Moy of the San Antonio Botanical Gardens. It is the only variegated Hedychium to date. "Dr. Moy" needs to be moved to where it receives more light. My white gingers (Hedychium coronarium) that Frostweed gave me have bloomed consistently each year. The only ginger that has died that I have planted is Black Ginger, Midnight Ginger (Zingiber malaysianum). I think that the tubers rotted. It only lived 2 years.

All of my brugs were protected during the winter with blankets and comforters; however, they all died back to ground level. All of them except one returned fairly quickly and are quite large again with several already having bloomed. The largest one that had the most protection and that I thought had died came up from the roots just a few weeks ago and is now catching up with the others.

Variegated ginger (Alpinia zerumbet 'Variegata') bloom stalk