My son just bought a home with lots of tropical landscaping. He cut some large green stalks of an overgrown plant and it has flowered in the last 2 weeks. The flowers look like shells and I think it may be shell ginger. I can't find this plant anywhere in our nurseries. I am sorry he trimmed it . What Can I do to get seeds to plant. There are 3 plants about 7 ft high. Any help would be wonderful. He also has a madagascar palm, a date palm , queen palm , large blossoming gardenias and it is absolutely like Hawaii in his backyard in downtown houston.

Thanks. I looked but did not see shell ginger there.

Alpinia Zerumbet is the scientific name for shell ginger. The variegated version is planted all over Houston, particularly at apartment complexes. Very over used. I just spent 2 weekends digging up some of mine. Once they are established, it takes a backhoe to get rid of them. Both the regular and variegated shell ginger bloom on second year growth so if they get frosted, and the most recent leaf turns brown, it's a gonner and you might as well cut it down at the base and hope that the next winter is a mild one. They can be somewhat protected by planting under a tree canopy and will bloom in shade. There are dozens more ginger that are much better than shell ginger and a lot less invasive.

Steve