Summer is here!

K. pulchra is known as the peacock plant and resurrection lily. Like all Kaempferias (at least in Florida), the leaves will die off in the winter, and come back in mid summer. There are a number of other varieties (Mason, Bronze Peacock II, All Summer Silver) but I like the Silver spot the best for its distinct leaf pattern. Some vendors may call this K. elegans ‘Silverspot.’

It also seems the K. pulchra (no special cultivar) can spread fairly quickly in a shady area, while this variety has not at least in my small ginger patch.

Commercially, the Kaempferias are often lumped into “peacock gingers” which is a whole lot better than calling them resurrection lilies. Kaempferia ‘Grande’ is pictured below with K. elegans ‘Satin checks’ to the right and Curcuma candida (used to be a Kaempferia) to the left. Nomenclature is a bit confused, as Grande is, as best I can tell, some hybrid. It is grande (big) anyway, with the leaves measuring 14 to 18″.

The summer gingers and ginger-related plants including the hedychiums, Musa haekkineni (cool banana tree from North Vietnam), curcumas and beehive ginger are all in bloom. Will post another blog later.

The Cornukaempferia aurantiflora has been growing much better this year, perhaps due to some homemade mulch (chopped up oak leaves). It bloomed earlier, and I don’t have a good picture of the bright orange flower. I’ve seen it marketed as a cultivar ‘Jungle Gold’ and I’m not sure if this is just some marketing ploy. Note the variation in markings on the leaves.

I’ve have a couple more blogs to go, so I’ll stop here.

Happy gardening,

Dave