Alpinia purpurata

[Don Little]

I've read of alot of nice HD finds this year from others but this year for my area all the Lowes and HD's have been a big disapointment.  Yesterday I walked into HD and to my surprise there was a five gallon Red Ginger that is flowering.  It was listed as a variegated ginger, I'm assuming zerumbet as that is the only variegated one I know of.  

Anyway to the question at hand, has anyone in so cal successfully grown these outdoors to the point of flowering?  What are your experiences?  I know there are plenty of varieties that will grow here like Zerumbet, and hedychiums but IMO this is the most spectacular.  I don't have a pic to post as of yet but will later.

[metalfan]

There are a few variegated gingers, most with red flowers but not all.

There is Zingiber darcyii, Alpinia formosana, Costus amazonicus variegata that have green and white variegation.

There is Zingiber collinsii Silver Streaks that has a patterned (but not really variegated) leaf

There is Alpinia zerumbet that has yellow and green variegation.

There is a variegated curcuma, C. petiolata "Emperor" that has some white variegation

and there is a variegated Hedychium, or butterfly ginger, called "Dr. Moy"

"Red Ginger" almost always means "Alpinia purpurata", however. There is a variegated form of Alpinia pur purpurata, but it is so very rare that I cannot imagine it would ever be in a box store in the next 1000 years. Its the domain of a very few lucky private collectors.

It would help to ID your ginger if you could post a photo

[Don Little]

Thanks Gina, I didn't realize there were so many varieties of gingers that you can find variegated.

The plant I found at HD was definate not variegated but was simply labeled as such.  I believe its Alpinia purpurata but now I'm hoping that with the best placement it can grow in my area.  What is your experience with this plant where you live and what are your anual minimum temps if you have this plant outside.

Here are a couple of pics.  There is one flowering at this time which made the I.D. alot easier.

thanks again for any experiences and or help and advice with this plant.

[metalfan]

That definitely is Alpinia purpurata, but its not variegated...leaves or flowers.

There is a form of Alpinia purpurata which has a color break (ie some would say variegated) red and white streaked flower, its called A. purpurata "Polynesian Princess", but your plant is the regular Red Alpinia P.

I have the Polynesian Princess, and even when the flowers are at the stage yours are at you can tell that they are color break.

I think someone mislabeled your plant as variegated. Perhaps your label was meant for an Alpinia zerumbet variegata.

But its a nice plant! I have grown this for many years, both in a container and in the ground inside my greenhouse and out in the yard. Mine bloom without difficulty. They can eventually attain heights of 8+ feet if they are very happy, and they spread in an extremely tightly packed clump.

I was protecting the clumps in the yard (I have both red and pink in the yard) but last winter I let the freeze to the ground on purpose because they were getting too out of hand. They have come back nicely and are manageable once again.

A. purp blooms on 2nd year canes. In my personal experience from overwintering containerized plants, they suffer in winter when it gets too dry. They like humidity, and they will get grungy looking at temps consistently under 50F. They won't die, but they will kind of stall until it warms up again at night. They benefit from some broken shade in hotter parts of summer.

[Don Little]

Thanks Gina that is exactly the info I was looking for.  

As far as the variegated, I was pretty sure that it was meant for zerumbet since they sell them all the time out here but have never seen purpurata sold here.

What did you use to protect yours when it was outside? and at what temps did you decide to protect it?

Thanks

Don

[metalfan]

I put a small portable poly wrapped PVC frame over it when it gets in the 30's. There is an outdoor plug located nearby, so I can plop a little ceramic space heater in there to keep it from freezing.

[metalfan]

This is a photo of mine last summer, before I let it go down to get it back to a more manageable size for protecting it

[aussiearoids]

They grow well in tropical conditions , did not think they would flower well anywhere else ..go Gina .

Sopposed to be a pure white one around in Darwin now .

[Don Little]

Gina:

Very nice looking clump.  Cant tell a difference from the ones You see in the tropics.  Thanks for the help, I'll get busy building my little cold frame but hopefully so cal won't have the same cold spell we had last year.

Michael:

I've heard of a pure white one also but have never seen a photo of one.  I can imagine those are hard to come by.

[metalfan]

Well, you have to live here to be aware of our conditions exactly. That's what is so hard for people to understand. I have a friend who just moved here last year from Miami. When we got our first below 60 weather last fall for, like ONE NIGHT, she said, "Its already FREEZING here! How do you stand it?"

It truly IS almost tropical here from, oh, late March (sometimes early March) through November, sometimes into December. I can recall 70 degree nights in December and I BBQ Christmas dinner in shorts almost every year by the pool. We get the first 90's usually in March or early April. The humidity is unbearable from then on til about now.

Tonight, we are actually getting our "first taste of fall". A cool front that's strong enough to actually make it here is supposed to drop it to about 55F for tonight and tomorrow, then its right back up to the mid-60's. This front is supposed to affect the peninsula all the way down into Central FL. It will be the first time we personally have had a night time low below 65- 70 since, well, last April. We are all looking forward to it. Its much drier today, its 86F now and it actually pretty much feels like 86, not like 96.

When I went on my 6 miler this morning, it was 70 when I started at 9:20 and 74 when I finished at 10:20. That's just about perfect weather for a morning jog! Usually its 75-78 when I start out and 82-83 when I finish.

It really takes very little effort to grow truly tropical plants outdoors here, just a wee bit of winter protection. And the plant has to be "manageable" in size of the clump or height. I'd grow everything outside here and just tweak it through if my collection wasn't so large.

The only A. purpurata I have currently growing under full protection in the GH is "Ginoza". I had Aileen McDonald, but took her out. I have Tahitian and Polynesian Princess in pots (30 gal) and I have the red and Aileen in the ground.

[bahia]

I don't think Alpinia purpurata will do anything for us anywhere in California until global warming kicks in and night temps consistently stay above 60/65F at night.  I don't know anyone who is successfully growing this species in southern California and getting it to look as good as it can in central Florida.  It really wants it alot warmer consistently than we can give it here in coastal California.  If you have your heart set on seeing this bloom, it would do alot better in a greenhouse, and just left outdoors in the 3 or 4 warmest months of the year.

[PalmGuyWC]

There is a ginger that has shown up in N. Calif. nurserys in the past 3 or 4 years, and I believe it's Alpinia zerumbet variegata. A friend picked up some for me at a wholesale nursery, and they were cheap so I got 6 of them and planted them around my garden under various conditions. They do well for me and will take a good bit of sun, but like some mid day protection otherwise the foliage will bleach.

They are amazingly cold hardy, and mine went through 2 winters with temps getting down to 25F one winter, then 27F. another with no damage. This past winter was cold, got down to 23F two different occassions, and some stems were killed back, while others on the same plant weren't damaged. Other plants with some overgrowth weren't touched. None of mine have bloomed yet.

Dick

[Jeff Searle]

I have seen a picture of the white Alpinia a couple of months ago. My good friend that imports thousands of "cuts" showed me a pic. from a grower and then got a small plant sent to him later. By next summer, his will be big enough to take a piece off and give to me for my yard.

   I also have the white torch ginger, which finally bloomed for me this past summer. That was a nice treat as well.

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