what did i purchase?

22 years ago

hello-the-house from a first-time poster on this forum.

i purchased two plants from the kanapaha botanical garden in alachua/gainesville, florida (usda zone 9)area this weekend.

the attendant there told me that they should be root hardy in my area (zone 8, east central alabama) with heavy mulch.

best i can tell, the plant labeled "variegated costus" might be Costus amazonicus variegata and the one labeled

"blue ginger" is Dichorisandra thyrsifolia.

my question is: can i expect them to survive in the ground here and, if so, will they flower?

the variegated costus would be a garden worthy subject even if it doesn't flower.

if anyone has another thought on what costus species this might be, please comment.

thanks in advance,

jeff

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Comments (3)

elle8b
22 years ago
I'm in North Florida and both came thru for me this winter. It was a mild winter of course, but I mulched well. I have not had blooms yet but if I'm going to this should be the year. Good luck!
CoolPlants
22 years ago
I'd expect them to not survive but it depends on where in Al. you live. If the ground freezes where you live, I'd not expect it to survive.
Both are rootable from stem cuttings.
kevin
p.s. my grandmother used to grow Hedychium coronarium in Montgomery and covered with with pine straw in winter.
kevin
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alex_z7
22 years ago
Jeff, I can't speak to either of the kinds you listed, but I can say that Hedychium coronarium survives in zone 7 in B'ham w/o any extra assistance whatsoever from my next-door neighbor. They have 8-ft stalks of weeds growing so you know they don't mulch. They people have lived there for 7 or maybe 8 yrs so I can't imagine that all of those winters have been incredibly mild....