Jump to content

  • WELCOME GUEST

    It looks as if you are viewing PalmTalk as an unregistered Guest.

    Please consider registering so as to take better advantage of our vast knowledge base and friendly community.  By registering you will gain access to many features - among them are our powerful Search feature, the ability to Private Message other Users, and be able to post and/or answer questions from all over the world. It is completely free, no “catches,” and you will have complete control over how you wish to use this site.

    PalmTalk is sponsored by the International Palm Society. - an organization dedicated to learning everything about and enjoying palm trees (and their companion plants) while conserving endangered palm species and habitat worldwide. Please take the time to know us all better and register.

    guest Renda04.jpg

Blue Ginger

JEFF from Trabuco Canyon CA

By JEFF from Trabuco Canyon CA
in TROPICAL LOOKING PLANTS - Other Than Palms

 Share

Recommended Posts

JEFF from Trabuco Canyon CA Experienced

JEFF from Trabuco Canyon CA

Posted
Posted

Blue Ginger or Dichorisandra thyrsiflora is a wonderful, tropical-looking plant which resembles ginger in growth and habit, but is actually a relative of the wandering Jew plant. The plant is native to the tropical woodlands of North, Central and South America. This is one of my favorites and I noticed my flowers just started to open. It does very well here in Southern California for me.

17010.jpg

Jeff Rood

LJG Grand Master

LJG

Posted
Posted

I need to get me some of dat.

Len

Vista, CA (Zone 10a)

Shadowridge Area

"Show me your garden and I shall tell you what you are."

-- Alfred Austin

Peter Grand Master

Peter

Posted
Posted

Nice plant!

San Fernando Valley, California

Kim Grand Master

Kim

Posted
Posted

Did you buy that locally, Jeff? Nice color!

Kim Cyr

Between the beach and the bays, Point Loma, San Diego, California USA
and on a 300 year-old lava flow, Pahoa, Hawaii, 1/4 mile from the 2018 flow
All characters  in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

JEFF from Trabuco Canyon CA Experienced

JEFF from Trabuco Canyon CA

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I got a piece off my friends plant in Irvine. I have seen them for sell at the airport in Hawaii.

Jeff Rood

cagary Proficient

cagary

Posted
Posted

Jeff,

Mine are flowering well over on my side of Trabuco Canyon (Robinson Ranch). I have some in pots and some in the ground. Are yours in the ground? Got to get over to your side of the canyon and see your place.

Gary

DSC03957.jpg

SunnyFl Mentor

SunnyFl

Posted
Posted (edited)
Jeff,

Mine are flowering well over on my side of Trabuco Canyon (Robinson Ranch). I have some in pots and some in the ground. Are yours in the ground? Got to get over to your side of the canyon and see your place.

Gary

Beautiful pix, Jeff & Cagary. Dichorisandra has such an intense blue, and it's a very undemanding plant. Mine has been in a pot for several years. It's flowering now. As Jeff said, not an actual ginger but related to the tradescantias, very close to the Virginia spiderwort that comes up wild around here.

Edited by SunnyFl

St. Pete

Zone - a wacked-out place between 9b & 10

Elevation = 44' - not that it does any good

Juan-Carlos Explorer

Juan-Carlos

Posted
Posted

Hey guys! Wonderfull looking Dichorisandras you have there! I have the weeping species Dichorisandra pendula The flowers hang down instead of the erect D. thyrsiflora. I LOVE this plant, what beautiful blooms!! Although mine is doing fine, it has never really Thrived... I am wondering how you guys grow yours I have my plant in the ground shaded in Miami Florida, the soil here is pretty alkaline and now I'm starting to wonder whether it prefers acidic soil and hence the weaker plants? Any thoughts on that? One of these days i'll have to try thyrsiflora, just haven't found that one around here yet ;)

Happy Growing!!

-Jc

Miami, Florida

fastfeat Grand Master

fastfeat

Posted
Posted

Jeff--

Well grown. I've never figured out why this isn't a more popular plant for coastal SoCal. I had a big 15gal in Laguna Hills for years that was about 8' tall with 20-30 stems. It often had 30-40 spikes at one time. I found that what worked best for me was removing the old spikes just above the first leaf and allowing it to branch, rather than cutting the canes down to the ground. They will typically last 2-3 years, if not cut down in cold Winters. I never tried it in the ground, but it was very easy to manage as a tub plant. Cake to grow from cuttings too.

That said, I agree with Juan-Carlos that it has been disappointing for me in SoFla. I suspect that the warmer conditions and heavier rainfall don't allow for it to "stiffen up" as much as the subtle stresses the SoCal climate provides. Yeah, I still get blue flowers, but the plant is floppy and does not like to branch here in Florida.

SoCal and SoFla; zone varies by location.

'Home is where the heart suitcase is'...

_____

"If, as they say, there truly is no rest for the wicked, how can the Devil's workshop be filled with idle hands?"

Juan-Carlos Explorer

Juan-Carlos

Posted
Posted

Doh! Jeff, I guess we are screwed with this one in Fl then O_O Mine is "Floppy" too even though I have the pendulous form.

-Jc

Miami, Florida

SubTropicRay Grand Master

SubTropicRay

Posted
Posted

As Paris Hilton would say, "That's Hot."

Tampa, Interbay Peninsula, Florida, USA

subtropical USDA Zone 10A

Bokeelia, Pine Island, Florida, USA

subtropical USDA Zone 10B

JEFF from Trabuco Canyon CA Experienced

JEFF from Trabuco Canyon CA

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Any of the Florida guys have pictures? I would like to see the pendulous form also. thanks

Jeff Rood

SunnyFl Mentor

SunnyFl

Posted
Posted
I suspect that the warmer conditions and heavier rainfall don't allow for it to "stiffen up" as much as the subtle stresses the SoCal climate provides. Yeah, I still get blue flowers, but the plant is floppy and does not like to branch here in Florida.

There are wonderful dichorisandras growing both at Sunken Gardens in St. Pete and USF Botanical Gardens in Tampa. Both are growing in shaded areas that seemed quite damp. But you all probably get a lot more rainfall than we do.

St. Pete

Zone - a wacked-out place between 9b & 10

Elevation = 44' - not that it does any good

JEFF from Trabuco Canyon CA Experienced

JEFF from Trabuco Canyon CA

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Thanks for the link Juan-Carlos.

JEFF

Jeff Rood

  • 2 weeks later...
JEFF from Trabuco Canyon CA Experienced

JEFF from Trabuco Canyon CA

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Hi Gary, Thank you for the information. I plan on ordering one myself. Hope to get out to your place real soon.

Jeff

Jeff Rood

BigFrond Mentor

BigFrond

Posted
Posted

I bought one two months ago and it bloomed profusely. I planted in the ground and noticed lots of tubers in my one gallon plant. I will divide them in the spring. This is a excellent plant/flowers because snails/bugs are not attracted to it.

fastfeat Grand Master

fastfeat

Posted
Posted

Dichorisandra "pendula" is available in SoFla Home Depots in 2-3gal pots now. Didn't check prices, but probably under $20.

SoCal and SoFla; zone varies by location.

'Home is where the heart suitcase is'...

_____

"If, as they say, there truly is no rest for the wicked, how can the Devil's workshop be filled with idle hands?"

JEFF from Trabuco Canyon CA Experienced

JEFF from Trabuco Canyon CA

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I'm suprised they don't sell them in the house plant area at Home Depot in California. Since most of those plants come from Florida and Hawaii anyway. They would fly of the shelf!

Jeff Rood

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing



  • Recently Browsing

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...