Alpinia Species, Indian Ginger, Snap Ginger

My father gave me one small plant of this over a decade ago, which has not turned into a nice sized patch of ginger, yet not invasive. My...Read More plants are at the low end of the garden, they only get rain water, not in the irrigation zones. Morning sun and then shaded the rest of the day makes them happy and healthy. Blooms sporadically from May through Sept, with heaviest blooms in June and July. I've never noticed hummers or butterflies or even bees around them, they don't have a scent either, but sure are beautiful flowers. They have frozen completely to the ground when we had many nights below freezing some years, but always come back just fine. The past two winters they have stayed evergreen.

I have not grown this plant. Indian ginger, snap ginger (Alpinia calcarata) is a native plant of India and is also known as cardamon ging...Read Moreer and false cardamon. Indian ginger appears to grow well in the Hawaiian Islands. It grows between 5 and 6 feet tall. The 2 inch wide, 12 inch long leaves are lighter on the undersides. The blooms, which somewhat resemble snapdragon blooms and appear on 4 inch racemes, are white with yellow and reddish-maroon variegation. Indian Ginger blooms on second year growth. If temperatures stay above the mid-twenties, it stays evergreen throughout the winter and will bloom in the spring. In very hot regions, Indian ginger prefers morning sun and afternoon shade. Although the seeds do not look like true cardamon, the leaves can be used to add flavour when steaming rice, in desserts or used to wrap fish.