Linda,
I try not to interfere in my son's life and always assume I'm dead and things will be what they are but as nice as Debordieu was, I could never justify the expense of living there part time or otherwise. The owner of the house my son rented for a week, at almost 7 grand, is faced with a $75K assessment from the HOA for beach replentishment. This is an ongoing thing and has to be refreshed every few years. I just don't see the sense in building right on a beach where nature will always have its way. My happiness is not fulfilled by being near or on the water. I'm in paradise among plants where I can mess a little with nature and she won't get too angry with me for doing it.
I even feel guilty sometime for living in what used to be part of the Everglades and formed a natural filter across South Florida all the up from the central part. But I came in after the draining and all the canals were dug. Now the filter is no longer functional and all kinds of mayhem is formed in the water with millions of fish and other aquatic life being killed by things like the red tide. It's a shame as to what we do to our planet under the guise of development.
Anyway, back to gingers. I'm trying to get more blue gingers myself. They are fussy little buggers and don't reproduce like other gingers I have. I really haven''t found the proper environment for them yet. Too much shade prevents bloom and too much sun burns them. The one bloom I had this year is surrounded by little plants just sitting there. I just added some magnesium sulfate (epsom salt) and 20-20-20 fertilizer. Maybe that will help for next year.
I just read up a little on this plant and found out that it's not really a ginger and can be grown from stem cuttings. Amazing what one can learn from a little reading. It also desires to be consistently moist. I guess that's been my problem as I have mine where the water is limited. Anyway, Logee's Greenhouses, Ltd. (Danielson, Connecticut) and Almost Eden Plants (Merryville, Louisiana) have this plant for sale. I guess it's native to Hawaii: Hawaiian Blue Ginger Root (Dichorisandra thyrsiflora) .
