Friday, November 3, 2017

Golden Brush Ginger/ Burbidgea schizocheila

I've had this plant 3 summers from a tissue culture, left it in the greenhouse the first two and babied it with out results. Then this past June I potted it and gave it one last chance, fertilizer, and put it in the shade outside the door under some long leaf pines where I water every day, and it did this.

I just yesterday brought it in the house for the winter where my wife can see it. I've had good luck overwintering many gingers and other tropical plants in my house, where they don't seem to know it's cold out. It's a good time to start cuttings and seeds off season.

The plant is now 20 inches tall and fully mature. Next summer I'll put a division in the ground here in zone 8b Louisiana,U.S. and see if the rhizome will survive our winters, as most go dormant and return in spring. Gingers appreciate being thinned/divided in the ground and out, and potted every spring. Gingers/Hedychium/Costus/Zingiber/Curcuma are easy to grow, add contrasting form to your garden, they are voluptuous in stature and bring the generosity of the rain forest back home for you.