First question: Is this (photo) Curcuma alimatifolia (Siam Tulip)?
Second question, I have a curcuma zedoaria that I planted last summer. It did great, died down over winter, came back in early June. The foliage is now about 18" high, leaves about ..mmmm..10" long. If it were going to bloom, it would've done so by now, correct? Should I ever expect it to bloom in my zone (8). If so, any suggestions to encourage it? It's in part sun.
Thanks!
Deb
Hi Deb,
Yes, your picture is Curcuma Alismatifolia. Your Curcuma zedoaria is a spring blooming Curcuma. It blooms first and then foliage appears. Spring bloomers seem to like being well established before they bloom. Zone 8 is fine, it will even grow and bloom in zone 7. Since it is something that naturally goes dormant it blooms regardless of the zone you are in, especially being a spring bloomer. Just give it time. Part sun is good, spring blooming curcumas seem to take more sun, even here in central Florida.
Just feed it and water (not during winter) and it will be fine.
Liz
Liz: Thanks. I suspected it was a question of my impatience. :) Here's where I use my favorite garden phrase, "I'll see what it does next year."
Thank you for the answers.
Deb
You're quite welcome ma'am. I say the same thing :)
Liz
sooo... the C.alismatifolia blooms w/ foliage and C. zeodaria blooms in spring before foliage? is that right? if so, when does the C. alismatifolia usually bloom, and how hardy is it? i'm lost!
Diehrd: Hope someone can answer you better than I can, but I can tell you that I just got this alimatifolia and it's blooming now. I believe it will survive our winter but will die back and go dormant. I haven't finished researching it, myself.
Liz will know. :)
Deb
ok good i just planted a bed of them. as you can see that part of my yard is only 1/2 done. i have to fill in the space behind the W. robusta w/ more hardy hibiscus or something
sorry it's blurry... its just so humid, the camera keeps fogging up!
PS the pic makes the grass look dead... it's really not! lol
Diehrd: Oooh. That's what I wanted to do, a whole group of them, but Lowe's only had 2 left. Looks really good. I'd love to see how it looks as the season goes along.
Deb
thanks! remind me and ill keep you updated. we have tons @ our lowes. you shoud take a trip to the beach on Hilton Head, and drop by to get some...if you can. i originally went to check out the heliconia that coreHHI mentioned, since we share the same lowes, but i ended up more interested in the curcumas! the tag from lowes said that they are only hardy to 40*F. i wonder if they ment the foliage by that... do you know?
Siam tulip is hardy to zone 8a from plantfiles info. http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/706/
But I am sure the foliage will die back pretty easily. You can't trust those Lowe's tags.
And you guys get good stuff in at your Lowes :)
Deb
I have an alimatifolia that is coming into bloom.I started it from a rhizome last year.
We are usually about 2 weeks behind the Charleston area for bloom starts.
Tropicanna: Yes, I'm sure you're right. "hardy to zone 8a" probably means root hardy; as you said the foliage will probably die back. That's what I'm assuming anyway. I just wonder. Every other curcuma I have made it throught the winter in ground, but I'm guessing that, like the others, with alimatifolia it'll probably need to hav mulch and kept without too much water over the winter.
Downscale: was that outside or in?
Deb
oh yeah there was this kind of ginger called "midnight" @ lowes too it looked like a hedychinum, but my dad thought it was ugly, so i couldn't get it.... *sigh*
PS so if downscale is 2 weeks behind chareston, would i be 2 weeks ahead?
This message was edited Aug 4, 2007 12:28 PM
diehard---'midnight' is a zingiber...but you probably could get away with it there. I have one, but it's going in the GH for winter.
I think it's pretty..lol
oh, so zibingers are less hardy?... is that the pinecone ginger? just for the record... i liked it too. i like just about all gingers. he doesnt for some reason... unless their foliage is unvarigated.... BORING!!!!!
diehrd: You should stand your ground. Who's the DG'er in the family anyway - you or your Dad?? Hmmm? ;->
Deb
Deb,
Yes ma'am, your Curcuma alismatifolia blooms from the plant and your Curcuma zedoaria blooms from the ground in the spring before the foliage appears. Alismatifolia will probably do better for you than it does for us in central Florida. They don't seem to like it here, don't usually bloom again after the first year and sometime the plant just dwindles away and never returns. Your zedoaria is a nice strong growing Curcuma. I've noticed many of the spring blooming Curcumas seem to like more sun and are very cold hardy, some have been grown in the ground as far north as zone 7, and even 6b. Tropicanna is 1000% correct, never trust Lowes plant tags. Really most plant tags are too generic as far as sun/shade and the rest of the information should be taken with a grain of salt.
I have never seen an ugly ginger so, I can't understand the foliage thing...lol
You can grow so many gingers where you are, I am more zone 8b here than I am 9a and I have over 200 varieties. I love my Zingiber zerumbet, I am always 'milking' the inflorescence and putting the glycerine type juice on my skin, it's wonderful.
Sorry, didn't mean to go on for so long, it's been a while since I stopped work and visited here for some fun time :)
Liz
Hurray! YES, DEB I totally agree :)
Here's the zingiber page from plantfiles for when you get bored, diehrd..lol--
http://davesgarden.com/pf/adv_search.php?searcher%5Bcommon%5D=&searcher%5Bfamily%5D=&searcher%5Bgenus%5D=zingiber&searcher%5Bspecies%5D=&searcher%5Bcultivar%5D=&searcher%5Bhybridizer%5D=&search_prefs%5Bblank_cultivar%5D=&search_prefs%5Bsort_by%5D=rating&images_prefs=both&Search=Search
Midnight is listed as hardy to zone 9a. I've seen zerumbet get big around here at the NC Zoo, so I'm trying it this year...also mioga 'dancing crane'...many zingibers are less hardy for my zone. BUT in your zone, you have a lot more flexibility.
Deb
All my Gingers are in the ground.I remember, lots of years ago there was a freeze in South Florida on Xmas day.All the Gingers and Heliconias turned black and bit the dust.They came back the next year even better.
Z. malaysiana midnight is very slow to recover from a freeze, even here. It is evergreen naturally, so it makes a nice container plant. I heard of someone growing Zingiber mioga as far north as zone 5, I do know that it seems to prefer the cooler weather. Mioga is the first ginger to sprout here for us, but it does die back in the summer. It stills blooms in the fall and sends up new foliage as well when the weather cools down here. You should be able to grow anything outside that I grow outside, since I am really more 8b than 9a.
Liz
I'm an 8a who thinks she's an 8b. ;->
Deb
she's 8 1/2c. lol
LOL Diehard, BTW, I have lots of the Z. zerumbet that I thin out regularly. It can really take over in this area. If you would like, I would be happy to drop some off the next time I head down your way. (can't say when that might be however).
Deb,
I know what you mean, I'm an 8b girl who thinks she's 10a, talk about an identity crises...lol shh... don't tell my plants, they think they live in Miami :)
Liz
We're just a bunch of shameless zone-pushers! LOL
Deb
thanks ardesia! i would LOVE that...
Alice
The Shampoos that you brought me are pushing their heads out.
Woo Hoo, well as soon as they turn red do like Liz does and milk them as you walk around the garden. The "shampoo" that comes out smells delightful and feels good on the hands.
Liz, did I read somewhere the flowers on this one are edible?????
Diehard, I'll dmail you when we have plans to head that way or LMK if you get up to Beaufort.
mmk gud deal. idk when we will be out there next, my mom teaches at hilton head christian academy, and it startsthe 14th, and i am switching schools yet again, so we'll be real busy. i love beaufort, but idont think i will have any time to go there. sigh well, i guess i gtg do my summer reading....
No ginger is toxic, so rea;;y any are edible. With Curcumas if you take the inflorescence when it is just pushing up out of the plant you can take it and use it like a vegetable and use it in stir fry or soup, whatever; very spicey...mmmmm good. I use many parts of different gingers, blooms, infloresence, foliage, rhizomes and fresh shoots. You can have a blast in your garden.
Getting ready for Mercer, won't be back here until Mondat or Tuesday. I hope everyone has anawesome weekend. If any of you are near Houston, stop by and see me, a friendly face is always welcome.
See you all next week.
Liz
Knock 'em dead Liz, we all know you will blow them away with your gingers. :-)))
When I lived in Hawaii, there were a bunch of shampoo gingers growing by the edge of the stream and I used to use them to wash my hair in the stream ( this was way up a valley-no one around to see! lol) they worked pretty well-none of my hair fell out, and the cheapest shampoo I ever used....
LOL, so that was you?????
Made it back, all in one piece...lol
I thought Florida was hot, Texas was a scorcher. The plants survived the 15 hour drive in the trailer, actually everything came through the trip very well.
Everyone out there was so nice, no one fell asleep or threw fruit at me during my talk, or anything. My Power Point Program worked the way it was supposed to, phew...
We brought back a few new gingers we didn't have and left a few gingers at the Arboretum that they didn't have, se we all added to our collection.
Got home about an hour ago and first thing I did was turn on the computer...lol
Well, I'm going to hit the hay. We have plants to unload in the morning and then have to reload Thursday, have a 2 day show down in West Palm at Mercer Arboretum, Richard said he's begining to fell like a long distance truck driver.
Liz :)
Oooooh, Liz, dying to know about the new stuff....lol ;)
OMG, I am just now reading this!
Oh, Liz, I wish I had known you were coming over this way. My boss went but I didn't. Thought about it but would certainly have gone if I had known you would be there. :~(
Do you come to Mercer every yr? Or was this just a one time thing?
I will definitely mark my calendar for any time you come this way again.
:~)
This was my first presentaion and sale at Mercer, everyone was very nice. Packing for Mounts Botanical Garden tomorrow, have a 2 day show there, including a presentation on Sunday. Who is your boss? Maybe I met her/him...
Many weren't too sure about what to do with large 3 gallon pots of gingers...lol
The big hit was the petraeovitex bambusetorum vine, sold 8 12" baskets!
Liz
I work for TreeSearch Farms. My boss is Heidi Sheesley. Very well known in these parts. "Skinny, super short hair(to go under the hats she wears daily @ the Farm), wears glasses". That about covers her!!!
She speaks regularly 20-25 times a yr around here. I showed up @ Arbor Gate (Bev is a super lady also) for a ginger 'talk' & Heidi asked what I was doing there. I said I have gingers, too!!!
