Aaron: Outstanding...that's better than I expected. This is such an outstanding plant, it's ashamed that more folks don't grow it. There are 3 variegated cultivars 'Dancing Crane' aka 'Nakafu'(white center', 'White Feather' (white edge), and 'Silver Arrow' (all over flecked patterns). Z. 'Dancing Crane' is the least vigorous of the three, but still makes a nice clump. The other two are insanely vigorous, even growing at the base of a grove of black walnut trees. Tony Avent Plant Delights Nursery @ Juniper Level Botanic Garden 9241 Sauls Road Raleigh, North Carolina 27603 USA Minimum Winter Temps 0-5 F Maximum Summer Temps 95-105F USDA Hardiness Zone 7b email tony@plantdelights.com website http://www.plantdelights.com/ phone 919 772-4794 fax 919 772-4752 "I consider every plant hardy until I have killed it myself...at least three times" - Avent -----Original Message----- From: pbs-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:pbs-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of aaron floden Sent: Thursday, July 01, 2010 12:40 PM To: Pacific Bulb Society Subject: Re: [pbs] Ginger - Zingiber - also Cautleya Tony, Z. mioga has taken temps down to at least -15 in the past ten years in Kansas. It is still there and increasing with some vigor. My variegated form is a sport of my green form and is just as hardy, but slightly less vigorous. Jim McK, Alpinia, except the one noted by Tony, need year old shoots to flower. There may be others. Aaron --- On Thu, 7/1/10, Jim McKenney <jimmckenney@jimmckenney.com> wrote: From: Jim McKenney <jimmckenney@jimmckenney.com> Subject: Re: [pbs] Ginger - Zingiber - also Cautleya To: "'Pacific Bulb Society'" <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org> Date: Thursday, July 1, 2010, 11:29 PM 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/