The recent rainy, cool weather has triggered some plants in my ginger garden as well as in the community garden to burst into blooms. Plants can be considered as fairly common gingers and heliconia. Probably nothing special to true blue plant collectors.
Costus ‘Green Mountain’, a hybrid spiral ginger between C. productus and C. varzearum. Once a collector’s item, now it can be found being sold in large numbers in some of the larger plant nurseries. Rare stuff no longer. The true flowers can be eaten, as I learnt from a talk by Singapore Botanic Gardens staff long time back. Tastes sourish.
Costus uniflorus or lemon ginger with its characteristic bright yellow flowers. Flowers are pretty large compared to the plant itself, unfortunately, they only last a day and gets damaged easily by wind where they crumple up into a mess. ”Uniflorus” means single flowers.
Close-up picture of a flower of the lemon ginger.
Just one of the three inflorescences of Alpinia mutica, commonly known as the small shell ginger. The white flowers and a gorgeous lip of gold and brown markings actually do not open really fully.
The small, pink, orchid-like flower of the Chinese Keys, a culinary ginger, that is scientifically known as Boesenbergia rotunda. Bought the rhizome from Tekka Market located in Little India.
Heliconia ‘Nickeriensis’ with variegated leaves. I expect this to be becoming very common soon, or it is already common. Bought this plant as an established plant in a huge black bag from a local nursery. Fast-growing and almost weed-like, similar to its non-variegated counterpart.
