The Garden.org Plants Database

The leaf patterns in the species Kaempferia pulchra are quite variable. Some plant have very strong patterns and others not, some have very dark leaves and some are a lighter greyish color. To identify a K. pulchra or K. pulchra cultivar it can be distinguished by the details of the flowers. Tim Chapman of Gingerwood Nurseries in Baton Rouge is probably the best expert on the cultivated varieties of this genus.

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Kaempferia 'Grande' is another of the Kaempferias that flowers before the foliage comes up. It differs from the much more common K. rotunda by having pink flowers without the long narrow white sepals. Unless something has changed recently, this is still an unpublished species, not a form of a currently accepted species.

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In my opinion the peacock gingers (Kaempferia) do not have to have an intricate pattern on the leaves or an unusual flower to be beautiful. I really like this "Plain Jane" Kaempferia elegans from the way the light shimmers in dappled shade on the plicate (pleated) leaves.

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I introduced this plant to US horticulture in 2002, imported from Thailand, received from Supranee Kongpitchayanond. She said it was collected in Laos and I see here that someone has changed my cultivar name from 'Silver Stripe' to 'Laos Silver Stripe', which is fine with me. It has since then been widely distributed and for sale by several online sources. It is a remarkably easy Kaempferia to grow, returning and spreading in a few years to a large patch, and flowering reliably every year. I believe it to be a form of the species K. angustifolia.
I usually grow my Kaempferias in with limestone or in my trough garden made from hypertufa material because I have seen them thriving in limestone at Fairchild Gardens in Miami.

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There are two basic types of Kaempferias that are currently in cultivation. One type is the early spring bloomers in which the flowers come up BEFORE the foliage. Kaempferia rotunda is the most common example of this type. The second type has flowers that appear later in the season, at the center of the leaves which often have beautiful patterns. ALL Kaempferias commonly in cultivation are seasonally deciduous and have a natural dormancy during the dry season in their native tropics. This natural dormancy makes it possible to grow them in colder climates (mostly to about zone 8b) so long as the ground does not freeze deep enough to kill the dormant rhizomes. The root tubers that keep the plants alive during dormancy can either take the form of thickened roots or round whitish tubers. I have added photos of some examples to this page.

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There are hundreds if not thousands of different cultivar names in genus Hedychium, and the names have become hopelessly confused with many identical plants having multiple cultivar names, but no active ISHS registration authority for the genus. The ICRA was supposed to be at the South China Botanical Garden (https://www.ishs.org/sci/icral...) but due to a dispute between them and hybridizer Tom Wood it never really got off the ground. There is no authoritative way to determine the validity of a Hedychium cultivar name. A name you might see on a plant tag or online or in a nursery or botanical garden is just anybody's guess whether or not it is correct.

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The species Globba williamsiana was introduced to cultivation under the cultivar name 'Pink Firecrackers' and it is my favorite of the "Dancing Ladies" gingers. It increases well and puts on a beautiful display of pinkish bracts and flowers on long pedicels making a nice airy display, especially when viewed from a low angle.

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The plants that have long been in cultivation under the name Globba winitii 'White Dragon' are not of the species G. winitii. They have also been sold under the name Globba magnifica, which is an invalid and unpublished species. They were more recently described and published as Globba sherwoodiana. They are best known from the country Myanmar (Burma) and are on the cover of the book by the noted ginger botanist John Kress, The Weeping Goldsmith, Discoveries in the Secret Land of Myanmar. To the Burmese this is a sacred plant that is the symbol of a legend about a goldsmith who tried, but failed to recreate or imitate "the intricate structure of this delicate white and yellow-gold flower".

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This beautiful Globba species was placed in cultivation a few years ago as Globba "Maejo No.14" and was offered for sale at Gingerwood Nursery but was never widely sold. It might still be found, under a few different names. There are many, many beautiful Globbas in nature that have not been brought into cultivation. They are truly beautiful plants up close and many of them are naturally deciduous so that they can survive cold winters so long as the ground does not freeze.
I started seriously studying them a few months ago and produced a web page that lists all the accepted species and explains the taxonomy a bit. Still so very much to learn!
https://www.gingersrus.com/Glo...

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This species produces bulbils and spreads in the garden but not invasively like Globba schomburgkii.

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