Ginger Collection of Keith Hayward

GINGERS

The Zingiberaceae collection of Keith Hayward

Farnborough, Hampshire, England

Home Page: www.hartcanna.com/personal.htm/
Selling Site: www.hartcanna.com

Updated September 1999

GINGER COLLECTION

Alpinia purpurea. Commonly seen all over in tropical countries. I collected a sample from the hotel garden in Fiji, but then had to dump it at New Zealand immigration (they are very strict, even confiscated my wife's bottle of water, but my grass skirt from Fiji came though OK). A friend visiting home in Brazil brought me some back (I wish she had brought something more exciting). After 6 month's growth, it is 1/2" tall.

Alpinia zerumbet 'Variegata'. Very attractive houseplant, given to me by a friend.

Etlingera elatior. 'Torch Ginger' Synonyms Nicolai elatior and also Phaeomeria magnifica. Also known as "Philippine waxflower". It is native to some islands of Indonesia. My Brazilian friend also brought this back for me from her sister's garden, and this IS exiting. There it is only known as "Bastao do Imperado" which translates as "Emperor's Sceptre". It grows to 20ft tall. The photos are of the clump from which mine was dug. I got it in March 1999. It threw up one spike which terminated at about 3 ft tall. 3 more shoots have now come from the base. It is looking quite healthy, so far, but the winter is to come. Dark green leaves with red undersides. Identified from a photo by Bob Riffle, author of the book "The Tropical Look".
Some nice hybrids for sale in the USA: www.alohatropicals.com.
Photo

Cautleya spicata. Purchased from Brian Hiley.

Curcuma alismatifolia 'Pink' 'Tulip Ginger'. Bought in a local hardware store (Homebase), June 1999, for £10. I walked around for a while before deciding to spend such a large amount, but it has been well worth it. It is very vigourous, and usually has several flowers blooming at a time. Identified from a photo by Kemberly, and David Skinner
curcu1.jpg small file for quick look
curcu1a.jpg high res file
curcu2.jpg high res file

Hedychium (Ginger lilies)
Many of these are new to me this year, and not yet of flowering size.

H aurantiacum. Looks very healthy, but not yet old enough to flower.

H coccineum 'Tara' Glaucous greyish stems and leaves. Large orange flower. Fairly hardy in S England, it just needs a bit of mulch over the crown in winter. I've had it for years. It is flowering now (26th August). Photo on this site soon.

H conorarium. Small white flowers. Grows very easily. Very big.

H densiflorum 'Assam Orange'. Small orange columnar flower (not much to look at but better than the plain species). Not flowered for me yet, but maybe I've neglected it. I'm told that in the West Country it is fully hardy. I've got the variety 'Stephen' promised for next year.

H ellipticum. Still small.

H flavum. That is what I bought it as, but we will have to wait and see.

H gardnerianum (at least, I think it is). Lemon yellow flower. Very wide and thick leathery leaves. Given to me as an unnamed plant by a neighbour when it had grown too large for the conservatory. Outdoors it is very short, about 1 foot tall, but flowers well. Flowering now. Picture soon.

H greenii. Red stems and leaf undersides. One of my favourites, had it for years, long flowering period. To get it to flower, you need to keep it growing through the winter. Got lots.

H glaucum. Looks dead, never grew.

H hasseltii. I had it but lost it. Didn't realise it was an epiphyte

H longicornutum. Looks ill, very small.

H spicatum. Distinctive olive coloured stems. Spidery pale yellow flowers. Very vigorous. The first of mine to flower, early August. Flowering doesn't last long, and I've missed the opportunity to photograph it for this year.

H 'Shamshiri'. Vigorous, slender canes, small leaves. Not flowered yet

H 'Elizabeth' OK

H 'Filigree' OK

H 'Lemon Sherbert' OK

H 'Garden Waters' OK

H 'Gold Flame' Deceased I think

H 'Golden Butterfly' OK

H 'Orange Crush' OK

H 'Pink V' OK, very vigorous.

H 'White Starburst'. very vigorous, 5 shoots from a new rhizome this year

H 'Ayo' OK

Roscoe purpurea Fully hardy and grows here and there in the garden

USEFUL LINKS

Our Canna Pages: http://www.hartcanna.com/canna/
Our selling site: http://www.hartcanna.com

An excellent ginger reference source:
http://www.nettally.com/skinnerd/gingers.html

When you live in England, it's nice to dream
http://www.h2olily.com
http://www.foxriver.com

Ginger suppliers:
http://www.alohatropicals.com.
http://www.stokestropicals.com
http://www.plantdel.com

A useful Ginger e-mail list with about 80 members
zingiber@onelist.com

NOTE

Farnborough is in the south of England, and the climate is relatively mild, but not as mild as in the south west (Devon and Cornwall), or London, where the micro-climate is much kinder to tropical plants. Here, gingers need to be kept in a greenhouse for 9 months of the year (October to May), and heat provided for the coldest days of winter. Some of the more hardy varieties of Hedychium can survive the winter outdoors, particularly if they are well mulched.

We are willing to exchange surplus gingers for gingers, and cannas for gingers. Or other tropical plants.