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European ginger -- any comments or advice?
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Posted by andrea34 6 (My Page) on Sun, Jun 10, 07 at 9:56
| I picked up a European ginger yesterday at a plant sale and I'm planning on putting it in my shade garden. Has anyone had experience with this plant and do you have any advice about its care or performance? Thanks! |
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RE: European ginger -- any comments or advice?
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- Posted by carrieb 7 Philadelphia (My Page) on
Sun, Jun 10, 07 at 21:37
| I have it and it is doing well, but... Before I bought a small potted plant of it, I tried it (twice!) bareroot from a mail order nursery, and it died both times. I have it in a shady area of my garden, I keep it somewhat moist, and it is slowly spreading and colonizing an area. I have it near asarum canadense (out native wild ginger) some helebore, a few ferns, lily of the valley and dicentra eximia. |
RE: European ginger -- any comments or advice?
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| I have TONS of it. I have it planted with my hosta. It grows in a round clump for me. Most people think it is a hosta and ask what its name is. As the clump gets bigger so do the leaves. I have one clump that is three feet across. One caution. It does not wander for me but I am finding it sprouting up where I removed it. It must have deep roots or it takes very little root to start from. I was trying to fill and area and sort of planted a long row. A year or two later I decided it looks better if it is in a round clump, so I dug a bunch of it out, I thought. I see it is coming back in the removed from spots. It transplants best in the spring, but like a hosta you can move it any time if you remember to give it a lot of water. As it gets bigger/older the leaves get a darker green too. Treat it like you would a hosta and it will do well for you. |
RE: European ginger -- any comments or advice?
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| I have it in a shady spot and it is doing fine. It does need occasional watering as the trees take most of the water. If it is dry, I will also mulch |
RE: European ginger -- any comments or advice?
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| An exceptionally nice low ground cover. Evergreen here, but gets ratty by spring. Spreads slowly by root, but can be spread by seed also and faster by intentional digging and spread of divisions. So far, deer have left mine alone. George |
RE: European ginger -- any comments or advice?
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| The native evergreen gingers are also very nice: hexastylis arifolia and hexastylis shuttleworthii are my favorites. This is one of my h. shuttleworthii clumps: 
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