Edible Ginger Plant Varieties

Most ornamental gingers will not tolerate temperatures lower than about 65 degrees f according.

Edible ginger plant varieties. Curcuma longa is another edible ginger commonly called turmeric. The leaves are long and green but there are cultivars of this ginger that have variegated leaves. It s a shade tolerant plant. Many of the ornamental varieties are edible in certain ways.

Torch ginger shell ginger and a large assortment of gingers that have white pink red purple and multicolored blossoms are included in the many varieties of ornamental gingers gardeners cherish for their appearance and fragrance. Varieties of flowering ginger the flowering ginger family zingiberaceae is a diverse group including some 47 genera and more than 1 000 species. As the rhizomes mature they take on distinct blue and purple hues. The perfumed white flowers on this compact clumping plant look like moths and give it its common name.

They are ruffled and may be white or pink with yellow centers. This ginger will give you spectacular blooms. Grow it in well drained and moderately fertile soil. The malay ginger produces flowers that are about two inches 5 cm across.

Fresh ginger is indispensable as a flavour in cooking and as a herbal tonic. For example butterfly ginger hedychium coronarium is reported to have edible roots and blooms. Gardeners usually grow it for its highly fragrant flowers. It also has uses in herbal medicines.

The ornamental varieties of ginger require warm humid climates or greenhouse conditions full sun to partial shade and rich well drained soil. The rhizome root of the plant is best harvested in winter however side shoots can be taken with care 8 months after good growth. The blue hawaiian ginger root is a type of edible ginger blue hawaiian ginger root is an edible type of ginger that has a blueish tinge through the rhizome. Growing up to 5 6 feet tall the fleshy rhizomes of yellow ginger are edible but not as flavorful as common ginger.

Some of the more common genus names you are likely to see in the nursery trade include alpinia costus hedychium and zingiber which includes the edible culinary ginger. When in its immature state the roots of blue ginger look just like any kind of ginger plant. The leaves and shoots meanwhile have a less pungent flavor than the rhizome. Shampoo ginger zingiber zerumbet has edible roots but they taste bitter and are not worth eating.

Growing to a height of three feet its leaves are deep green lush and grow to a width of approximately five inches. Edible members of this family include ginger cardamom turmeric and galangal but here we introduce the flowering ones which offer so much more than a tropical splash of lush green foliage. In cooler temperate regions ginger should be treated as an annual planted in spring in a frost free area or lifted each year. Plants need a warm sub tropical climate.

Hedychium coronarium luna moth id. Not only are the rhizomes of common ginger edible but so are its leaves and shoots so feel free to chop them up finely and use them as a seasoning. Common ginger also called culinary ginger is one of the most popular edible types. It s shorter than most gingers at 1 5m.

The flower spike is six to eight inches 15 20 cm tall has bright red waxy bracts and is shaped like a pineapple. As with zingiber officinale curcuma longa is easy to grow and is quite a bit showier in the landscape.