Around fifteen or so years ago, I went off on something of a ginger tangent... I think it came about as we took to driving down to the south coast more regularly (to go to the beach), and I became obsessed with the great stands of wild ginger that appear in pockets on the winding escarpment roads (as well as very secret locations in the Southern Highlands!). I revel in my dozen or so blooms of this quite common variety, Hedychium gardnerianum (increasing each year), under the frangipani, against the north-facing stone wall of the house. As I open the door to this particular garden in the late afternoon between late Jan & mid-March, I am overwhelmed by a rush of heady perfume pouring inside (where the scent has been trapped in a pocket & warmed all day against the golden stone). It’s near swoon-making….
On the other hand, the stand of ginger that lines the bedroom wing, has absolutely no scent at all. It was originally a quite annoying ‘mistake’! Swept up on my ginger quest, I placed an order for 3 or 4 plants which arrived by mail order. I planted them with great excitement, thinking they were the magnificent white ginger I wrote about in yesterday’s post, Hedychium coronarium. But it later transpired that they were, in fact Alpinia zerumbet commonly referred to as shell ginger. It took me awhile to re-think my planting scheme, but most garden mistakes can be turned to good advantage in the end. During the intervening couple of years, we added the final bedroom ‘pavilion’ to the house…..(and later my much desired shutters to the windows), So now, finally, the whole effect looks as if it’s been there forever. And it’s the shell ginger that makes it all look & feel so delightfully ‘right’.
The pendulous shell ginger flowers open one bud at a time, and each is quite voluptuous. I enjoy them directly outside the bedroom window, catching the early morning sun, and lending a tropical, colonial, almost Carribbean air….
Thank goodness for small mistakes and silver linings! Though I must try harder to find the right spot for edible ginger – I have yet to score so well on that front!