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A
little about Kaempferias
Kaempferias are compact gingers which
like shade. Although they bloom, the reason to cultivate
them is the leaves.
In fact Kaempferias are known as peacock gingers because
of the wild patterns on some species’ leaves. Some
Kaempferias have iridescent leaves and still others are
variegated. Some have large round leaves that lie flat
on the ground.
The different Kaempferias tend to be
short and the tallest I’ve seen is only two feet tall.
The flowers on Kaempferias are small, delicate, and white,
lavender or bicolored. They
last only one day but a clump of Kaempferia will always have
blooms in season. Like most gingers they need lots of water
and quality soil in the growing season.
When temperatures start to go down
in Houston, I taper off on the watering and the Kaempferias
will begin to go dormant.
If I want to divide them I will lift them and over winter them
inside. When growing season starts again, I divide the rhizomes
and put them back in the ground. Otherwise they stay in the
ground and I stop watering all together in the winter. I don’t
water again until spring the following year.
In my Ginger Garden they happily live in the deepest shade
and thrive.
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