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mecontus

Hedychium marginatum or other 'red ginger lilies'?

mecontus
15 years ago

I have been searching for a beautiful ginger lily I saw about 20 years ago years ago with dark red flowers. This one looks like it may be it, but it doesn't seem to be in cultivation, or at least nobody is talking about it on the web.. which I'd find hard to believe if its growing out there. Anybody growing Hedychium marginatum?



Another one with red flowers is H. greenii.. but its so hard to tell from photos posted on the Internet. I have a sneaking suspicion it has pink-ish to orange-y flowers like H. coccineum. Can anyone tell me does H. greenii look anything close to this?

Thanks for your help with either one.

Mike

Comments (9)

  • Dave in NoVA • N. Virginia • zone 7A
    15 years ago

    Here's my greenii if you want to compare. The color is pretty red-orange. Also note the stems and petioles are reddish too.

  • mecontus
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Thanks for the photo Dave. Your gingers are awesome. I can get a much better idea of the color looking at those. I just got a few greenii and put them in a 3g pot, but they are juvenile (three thin canes about 18 inches tall, no blooms). How tall do yours get?

    Mike

  • Dave in NoVA • N. Virginia • zone 7A
    15 years ago

    I suppose they got around 4-5 feet tall. They are a more tender ginger (probably zone 8 or 9) so I just kept them in pots and brought them in over winter. I ran out of space this year, so they are no more. Where do you live?

  • mecontus
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    I'm in zone 10 so I reckon it would be hardy here. I read somewhere that greenii is a bit smaller than the other hedychiums, but 4-5 feet will definitely work for me.

    In the past I've grown H. gardnerianum, coronarium and coccineum--wasn't too happy with the coccineum because I thought it was the one I was looking for and was disappointed.

    I figure I might as well give all the reds a try.. now if I can just find H. marginatum.

  • kaos
    15 years ago

    When did you see that red ginger? I put it in a google search and it comes up as extinct lol

  • mecontus
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Hi kaos, it was in the late eighties--1987 or thereabouts. I saw that it is listed as extinct or endangered, but remember that quite a few commonly cultivated garden plants are also on those lists. My interest is not in collecting wild plants as much it is that someone may be growing it or know a little more about it.

    H. marginatum was first written up in the late 1880's, so maybe in all this time, what with tropical plant enthusiasts or ginger collectors.. it might be out there somewhere. Or maybe somebody might say, "Oh no, I know you'll never find that one!"

    Thanks for checking on it tho' :0)

  • mecontus
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Just an update:

    Over the holidays an international expert in gingers actually took a look at my photo, and recognized it as a local [to India] form of H. greenii with 'tubular' bracts.. while most of the ones we grow here have 'imbricate' bracts. The more I consider the evidence, it must have been an H. greenii I saw so long ago. I reckon I'll know for certain this summer when my new greenii's flower!

    Mike

  • Nilkanta
    9 years ago

    Hedychium marginatum is presently growing in my place,Manipur (North East India).

  • boothbay
    9 years ago

    Is it true that this plant was named after that beautiful actress/inventor Hedy LaMarr?

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