Hedychium telstar (Early Flowering)

Description

Hedychium Telstar 4 is a recent hybrid hardy ginger producing tall fairly narrow stems with deep green slender leaves. Hedychium Telstar 4 is proving popular due it’s speed of growth, up to 1.50cm high, and the abundant delicate salmon pink flowerheads up to 15cm long produced from late August onwards. For best results plant in a sunny position in a fertile free draining soil. Don’t worry if your garden soil is poor just make sure you add plenty of good organic compost when preparing the planting spot.

As with most hardy gingers once the foliage has been frosted I recommend cutting the stems back to 30cm then mulching the base of the plant with 15cm with good organic compost. In cold areas I would do the prevous and then add a layer of staw which I’d then cover with a large up turned terracota or clay pot to keep the winter frosts and wet away from the dormant rhizomes. 

As with all hardy or temperate gingers they all make wonderful container plants. In really cold areas this is perhaps the best way to cultivate them as they can easily be moved in winter to a frost free location such as a shed or garage to prevent the roots from freezing. A small tip, if you give them regular fortnightly feeds with a tomato fertiliser during the growing period you should be rewarded by mutiple flowers from late summer right through to late autumn.