Hardy Ginger

Hardy Ginger

Roscoea auriculata ‘Spice Island’

(ross-KOH-ee-uh) (aw-rik-yoo-LAY-tuh)

This is a plant that I saw for the first time a couple of weeks ago at a local nursery. The first impression was that it was some tropical that got mixed into the hardy shade plant display. It turns out this plant is considered hardy to USDA Zone 6. Here is a page on the hardiness zones (including Britian).

Zone 6 is pretty far north in the US and I have my doubts that this plant would make there but don’t have any direct experience with it. A heavy layer of mulch is recommended and the plants sometimes don’t emerge until late May. I guess I would try a few to see if it works. The flower and foliage does give off a tropical flair. The price was really high at $22 for a 1 gallon pot.

Since it is Sunday come join us at http://flowersfromtoday.blogspot.com/ Today’s Flowers . Sunday means a bonus snapshot.

I didn’t say it was going to be a flower picture. This was taken at the New York Aquarium at the Jellyfish Tank. It was shot with the Nikon D700 and 50mm/1.8 lens in what I would describe as very dark conditions.