Most Alpinia bloom on 16+ month old stems, with the exception of A. galanga. Any of the hardy alpinia that get frozen back will not bloom that year. A. galanga is the only species that I know of that blooms consistently every year. We almost always have winter freezes here (zone 8). A few very hardy species can normally make it through winter without being forced dormant if there are only light freezes (A. pumila, A. japonica, and A. formosana can take 28F or so and not show much damage. These often bloom in zone 8). Z. mioga is not that fond of our hot summers, so it is usually the first to sprout here and first to bloom. Its also the first to go dormant, usually by mid summer. My plants came from British Columbia of all places, where they were a weed in my friend veggie garden. The variegated forms don't seem to do well here at all. The variegated Z. zerumbet is also a little picky here compared to the standard form that thrives. The patterned Z. collinsii and the variegated Z. montanum do much better for me. Tim Chapman > Aaron, when you write " Strangely enough, Alpinia zerumbet has wintered > for > two years as a deciduous plant, thus making it not worth growing." > > Does that mean that the sprouts have to be more than one season old to > bloom > (I have not grown this plant so I don't know its habits)? > > > Kaempferia rotunda survived near a wall here for years, but I don’t think > it > ever bloomed. Hedychium coronarium can be grown as a garden plant here, > too. > > > > Jim McKenney > jimmckenney@jimmckenney.com > Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, 39.03871º North, 77.09829º West, USDA > zone > 7, where the temperature this morning was 40 degrees F lower than recent > daytime highs (we've already topped 100). > My Virtual Maryland Garden http://www.jimmckenney.com/ > BLOG! http://mcwort.blogspot.com/ > > Webmaster Potomac Valley Chapter, NARGS > Editor PVC Bulletin http://www.pvcnargs.org/ > > Webmaster Potomac Lily Society http://www.potomaclilysociety.org/ > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/ >