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/