Costus Amazonicus r FRIST Bloom!!!

well...finally...a bloom, appears everything grows at such rapid speeds here in florida.......except this type of ginger...slow grow, but she's aspreading her wings. and the leaves are full of exciting variegation!

richard,.....if you read this thread.....i wanted u to know my "ginger' friend was over yesterday and said the only way to get a cutting is to wait until it flowers then cut the stem and then bury it in a shaded area to get cuttings?? he brought me over a red "flame" and a few others that were already to be put into the ground, but felt he should not cut or pull out anything as yet...:(

i was also a bit disappointed with respect to the bloom color, since i thought it was white with RED...but it appears more white with pink??? still lovely!


FIRST NOT FRIST.....i need someone to type for me!!!




This message was edited Jul 9, 2010 10:48 AM

a few more!!

i think the leaves are JUST as beautiful as the flowers!...and with some food and a ton of water the leaves are getting BIGGER!! nice!

That is a very healthy plant you have there and congratulation on the bloom. You can root Costus anytime. Just take a cutting 4" or longer and root in well draining soil, I prefer quart size pots that are deep. The will root in just a few weeks and then you can cut that one off and root it.

thanks ken. i think my ginger friend, although born and raised here is a bit worried about messing with the plant.......i have been to his gardens and he seriously must have 100s of gingers...of course not all different cultivators.....so what's the deal about burying the flower part??? is that what has the seeds to help start new plants. because by what you are saying you can simply start it from a cutting...or i thought a established rhizome?

i'm new to costus since i come from another zone or two that does not grow them outside.

Once ya see the flowers of gingers..ya HOOKED!!!..beautiful flower..it will keep growing more of those on top..mine did..

This message was edited Jul 9, 2010 8:58 AM

i'm HOOKED!! actually my husband MORE than me!!

yesterday ...one of the only persons i have met down here is a retired horticulturist from disney and is a ginger FREAK..he had stopped by to see how r gardens were going ....we had gone to his place about 2 months ago, and as he calls it, that he's more a "specimen" gardener...however, his gardens were lovely and full of 100's of gingers!! not 100
s of types but just all over everywhere....he brought me a few yesterday...(cuttings) one costus...fuzzy leaf underneath all green...larger leafs...the other one is green with outlined white...and the other another type of costus with fuzzy underneath but much smaller leaves on it...he said one was a blaze??? which was his favorite...so as soon as it cools down a bit i will plant them!!

Costus Blaze???...I know there is one called Costus Belize Yellow...I have that one..

yes, nadine...that's what he called it???? definitely NOT yellow....

you think if i take pics of the leaves you can id them????? two of them are ALL green...and remember sweet soft fuzzy on the backside of the leaf.....i'll take the pics anyway...i have NO clue about them...just that two are costus and one is not?? i'm like totally unlearned in this type of plant!!

right now i have them all in the kitchen sink!! LOL!! we have a 105 heat index here the next few days...so i just soaked a wet paper towel around the rhizomes, and put them back in the plastic bag he sent them over with and leaving them there until i can get them outside....then i will leave them in a shaded area for about a week or more....THEN plant them!!

this the kitchen sink is close.....here they r...LOL!!

1. he called this "blaze"...but i don't know..it has the bigger leaf and the biggest plant

here's the second one....which is green and outlined in White"......no fuzzies on the backside of the leaves

the third one is similar to the first one, however, has "smaller" leaf size...?

I can ID only the second pic right now....I need to see blooms of #1 and # 3. I have some costus that looks almost the same but they are diff until they bloom...

Your second pic is Zingiber zerumbet 'Darceyi' variegated pinecone ginger...

nadine...hopefully i will get them "potted" up this week...it, i'm certainly will be a bit b4 they bloom since they are just cuttings...but i can't wait.

thanks for the id info on the Zingiber zerumbet 'Darceyi'!

Hi sue, OK on the cutting, any costus will root from cuttings, Costus Amazonicus is a little slower to root than other costus, because of the lack of chlorophyll in the white & cream colored areas. On most costus, You can cut off an entire stem & lay it down on a bed a of light potting mix & it will sprout at most all of the leaf nodes.
The big leaf Costus with the fuzzy underside, sounds like Costus Barbatus ! It is a beauty when it blooms, but it blooms on stems that are about 8 months old, so it is best to keep it from freezing back to see it bloom. The inflorescence will usually start showing in late March & grow til about November & reach a height of about 14 inches on a 7 to 8 foot stem. In Costa Rica, they grow to about 12 feet tall.

thanks richard.....it's still blooming off that one stem. i'm fascinated i must admit!

i never noticed gingers in costa rica...however, the "wild" impatiens growing on the mountains were intriguing enough!

i never considered looking at or for ginger plants how exciting it would have been to have seen a 7-8 foot stem. and.

i thought a 5 foot pointsetta sitting in front yards was excitement enough! LOL

BEAUTIFUL picture!

LOL....

i'm certain you can tell i'm like a "kid" in a gingerman house!! ......trying to eat my way out i guess...

the funniest thing ginger is my husband favorite spice!! i even chop it and saute it with r foods and now these gorgeous perennial plants...what more can one ask for!

o...we potted up all the cuttings yesterday after giving them just a few days still wrapped in wet paper towels......those that i pictured above.....i like to give them a week or two in a pot first. b4 planting in the ground we left them in the shade just to get the roots stronger...i'm most likely "over" reacting, but i don't want to lose them.

I know what ya mean by being a kid in the gingerman's house..lol..I get excited when I get ginger stuff in the mail by trading..That is my kind of Xmas presents...

nadine.....yes, i really understand that...or i'm fast learning to understand it! when my "ginger" friend came over with the little bag last week...i didn't want to be rude, but i wanted to snatch it right out of his hands...LOL!!!

here's my problem tho...now, when i have a general interest in any type of plant i search and seek out the world for the rarest and most beautiful & exciting. (that is truly a subjective statement, because beauty is, indeed, in the eyes of the beholder!)

this is been REALLY fun for me because it's NEW....it's like i have been reading the same book for 20 years and i know every page by heart and NOW...it's like picking up a brand new book and having all new plant adventures!!! and learning.....and orchids!! LOL!! (which i would not touch with a 10 foot pole before moving here...and now i'm addicted !!)......

however, the gingers are excellent choices for this area....most quite hardy, lovely foliage, gorgeous flowers....many grow rapid so they fill in nicely ...what more can one ask from a plant???


am i SOLD on gingers or what??? somehow i have to try to make it up to richards....we r just soooo booked....we r not even unpacked from this move!!





This message was edited Jul 15, 2010 10:40 AM

tobee....you need to get a blue ginger (actually related to the wandering jew plant) They are deep blue/purple, and in mass, look great!

>>

what do you mean by BLUE ginger merry??? LOL!!! wow...sounds right up my alley!

Look up blue ginger on ebay, there are several pictures. In our end of town, it grows fairly easily.

Dichorisandra thyrsiflora - Blue Ginger
It's also listed in the DG Plant Files, with pictures. :)

thank YOU!!

Hi Tobee.....I will be here at the nursery this Saturday, I hope to have a few customers. I have blue ginger....a few pots here. Here is a pic !

richard....how much do you have left???? lou and i r just thinking.....we might be able to make it tomorrow....r you going to be there all day??

OH! I want one! tobee....if you get extra, I'll come pick it up from you and reimburse you! I have a tournament at Disney all weekend (through Tuesday) so will be tied up until then. Mine froze and died ..but I admit it was my own fault, I had it in a vase of water on the deck, and not even planted.

tomorrow i'm going up to richard's the gingerman..dude guy...LOL...and i'm going bring him a cutting.....



we will be here all day on sunday outside of orlando....and then i'm going to meet hap and the others on monday over on the west coast...

never mind....!! u live right down the street.....u can come over for a cutting anytime you want! plus now i'm getting a blue...hehehehe!!

sue

I have the drooping blue ginger..Here is a link of the flowers and plant..Mine stays in a pot so I can overwinter it but I plant the pot out in the flowerbed..I just pull pot out and go put in the house for the winter...
http://toptropicals.com/catalog/uid/Dichorisandra_pendula.htm

"drooping" blue... ????? come one STOP...ur killing me nadine....what a beautiful flower!!

I have been growing Dichorisandra pendula for about 6 years now....
that is another plant that was brought into this country by John Banta.

yup..waiting for the flower dept to start blooming..it is raining again..dang it..can't go outside to take a pic..took cuttings off it and it made new ones that came back from the winter..

Well it was nice to have Sue & her husband visit my nursery today. We had a great time talking about all the gingers & showing all the gingers that I grow to them. A lot of them are starting to bloom now. H. Tara opened 2 days ago, along with Daniel weeks & H. 'Vi'. Several Curcumas are also blooming. H. Disney & Orange Brush, should open in the next 2 days. Here are some pics of a few that you bought Sue !

Curcuma 'Sulee Rainbow'

richard!! we just got home!! what an absolutely wondrous day we had with you!!! lou and i can't wait to come up to your lovely nursery again!!

we are both sooooo excited about all our new "babies"......we are getting ready to plan our next trip up!!!

tomorrow i'll take some pictures to show off in the ginger forum!!

thanks again....anyone that LOVES ginger would go NUTS at your place!!

nadine....i got the pleasure of seeing your trades...very cool. we brought richard a cutting of our Costus Amazonicus ....i think he loved it...??? i think!!!

Cornukaempferia arantiflora 'Jungle Gold'

mary...i got a "blue" ginger...or two..LOL!!

Curcuma 'Emperor'

Hedychium 'Tara'

Yea..once ya buy a ginger...you are HOOKED for LIFE!!!!...LOLOLOLOL...glad you enjoy your trip to Gingergrower's place...

nadine...we had such fun!!! richard has soooooooo much just blooming! it was exciting and so beautiful to see "ginger" at it's best! he had so really rare ones that we just enjoyed glazing upon!

you're right we R HOOKED!!