Hedychium forrestii

Description

Hedychium forrestii is beautiful jungly hardy ginger with large showy leaves topped in late summer by white open flower clusters. Forests ginger has a sweet delicate fragrance to the flowers which often have pale pink to yellow bases to the stamens and petal stems making an attractive contrast to the large white petals. For me however it is bold almost banana like foliage that makes this ginger stand out. As a jungly hardy exotic ginger Hedychium forrestii is perfect for the back of a border reaching up to 2 metres high contasting with perhaps miscanthus grasses or red hot pokers this ginger looks fabulous. Pretty tough and easy to grow Hedychium forrestii is hardy with us when planted in a sunny position in fertile free draining soil. 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 straw which I’d then cover with a large up turned terracota or clay pot to keep the winter frosts and wet awy 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.

It should be noted that we like to sell all our hedychiums in containers, they are rooted plants with at least a seasons growth and will be established enough to produce flowers given good growing conditions the following year if not before. They are slightly more expensive than buying bare rhizomes but we feel this is a better option as most hedychium dislike root disturbance and take a while to recover. You will also be receiving a larger plant.

Depending on the time of year we may cut back foliage to facilitate shipping. This will only be done to late season growth and will not harm the plant in anyway

• Position:Full sun to part sun.
• Soil:Most soils.
• Eventual Size:  Up to 2 metres.
• Habit:Upright, bushy.
• Foliage:Jungly.
• Common Names:Forests Ginger.
• Flower colour:White