Help Please Alpinia Zerumbet Solid Green

[Denny504]

Hello everyone...I am hoping to get some info from some experts here

 

I have been trying to look up info on the solid green version of Alpinia Zerumbet

Every time I type the name into the search engine I get listings for the Alpinia Zerumbet "Variegated"

I Do Not type in the word "variegated"......but that's all that comes up....listings and articles on the yellow/green striped leaf version, which is beautiful but a very different plant than the solid green version. ...and Not the plant I am looking for info on

My question is this: Is there another name or botanical name for the solid green version that I do know and that would pull up the articles on the type I am trying to get info on? It has been very frustrating.... It is as if nobody talks about this plant

 

Thank you all in advance : )

[Silas_Sancona]

11 minutes ago, Denny504 said:

Hello everyone...I am hoping to get some info from some experts here

 

I have been trying to look up info on the solid green version of Alpinia Zerumbet

Every time I type the name into the search engine I get listings for the Alpinia Zerumbet "Variegated"

I Do Not type in the word "variegated"......but that's all that comes up....listings and articles on the yellow/green striped leaf version, which is beautiful but a very different plant than the solid green version. ...and Not the plant I am looking for info on

My question is this: Is there another name or botanical name for the solid green version that I do know and that would pull up the articles on the type I am trying to get info on? It has been very frustrating.... It is as if nobody talks about this plant

 

Thank you all in advance : )

If you type " Alpinia zerumbet green" in various search engines, several images of the plain green variety should come up. Did when i checked myself..

  True ( and i don't know why, other than admiring the variegated foliage more ) you don't see it mentioned much even though it is just as easy to grow, perhaps a touch hardier than the variegated form. Both forms, as far as i'm aware, are the same species. 

That said, there is a species, Alpinia malaccensis that is sometimes miss- labeled as a zerumbet variety ( Giant Shell Ginger ).. Obviously isn't that.. Regardless,  a great species to grow. I actually have two pots full of this species that i've managed to keep alive 4 years here in AZ.. in complete shade. No flowers though, which is a bummer, lol.

Hope this helps.

[NOT A TA]

I'm not familiar with it so I googled. Sounds invasive under the right conditions. Some info in first link and videos in second link http://southeastgarden.com/alpinia.html

https://www.growplants.org/faq/alpinia-zerumbet-care

[Xenon]

What kind of info are you looking for that is only specific to the non-variegated form? Most info that applies to the variegated form should also apply to the standard form. Without variegation, the standard form probably handles more sun and may be a touch hardier due to increased vigor. 

AFAIK, the standard form is rarely offered for sale and I only see it as remnant landscaping in older homes in inner city areas of Houston. Variegated form is everywhere, almost overused. 

[Denny504]

hey guys....thanks much for the help and the info/links.....yes, I do not know why this plant does not pop up a lot easier in a search....to me it is a more "majestic" version than the yellow/green type...though as I said they are both beautiful

 

I have to go read up on Malaccensis...it sounds intriguing ....I am a Huge fan of all types of gingers/alpinias....such an Easy Care plant here in New Orleans.

 

 

 

Edited March 2, 2020 by Denny504

[mnorell]

The solid green and variegated plants you find in abundance in the U.S. (including the New Orleans area) are generally accepted to be the same species...Alpinia zerumbet and Alpinia zerumbet 'variegata' (though this is a horticultural cultivar, propagated asexually, as it probably doesn't come reliably true from seed). The variegated form is almost always a bit lower-growing than the solid green form, and just as Silas Sancona mentioned above, the variegated one is less rampant. After a while you will get to know this plant very well visually, at a glance.

Some specialty nurseries will sell some other species (including at least one other, smaller-leaved variegated species), but chances are they will be labeled. Some other green-leaved species such as Alpinia henryi 'Pink Perfection' have begun to gain popularity and you might consider that species as it is beautiful and usually takes up a little less room.

The Google search key for researching the green form is to type "alpinia zerumbet" -variegata -variegated (use the quotes around "alpinia zerumbet" and note that the "-" will exclude those words from your search results....make sure you have a space in front of each "-" but no space between it and the word you're wanting to exclude. Or just cut and past what I have in boldface here.

Make sure you have adequate space for this species. It is beautiful and will bloom most every year in New Orleans city areas (it requires temps above 27F or so to keep its above-ground growth up and healthy and throw a bloom-spike the following spring).  It is easy to grow in New Orleans, wanting water and space to expand after its first few years. If you love the look of this species but have limited space, you may want to explore one of the many other appropriate species in the Alpinia genus. But if you want this species and are located in town, so many people have this plant that you can probably just ask around for a section of root. People have to do a lot of thinning of this species periodically and are usually more than happy to share!

[Denny504]

Michael, wow, thanks much for that big block of info...and Thanks Much for the lesson on how to exclude words from a search....I never knew that and I am sure others will learn something new after reading that too....

 

Yes, I do see that plant growing all over the city, it really is a stunner...yes, it will have to be thinned out but to me it is a very small "price" to pay to have those beautiful plants in the yard....especially since I now know it can grow in more shady areas which is what I really needed to know about it. plus I like reading about plants and origins etc in general.....you can always get more info that you never knew before

: )

 

 

Edited March 2, 2020 by Denny504

[mnorell]

If you like unusual gingers, there are two people you need to get in touch with:

You need to talk to Dave Skinner at gingersrus.com. I have bought many wonderful plants from him over the years and he is both extraordinarily knowledgeable and also a very, very nice guy. He is very focused on Costus gingers these days but something tells me he keeps some of those Alpinia around for comfort...

Also, Tim Chapman in St. Gabriel, he has Gingerwood Nursery and has written a very good book on gingers. He knows a lot about growing gingers in Louisiana!

[Denny504]

Hey, thanks Michael!....those are good contacts indeed....I actually bought some Alpinia Japonica from Gingers r Us a few years back.....they are forming nice clumps now, that one is hard to find. thanks for the reminder of that site.....probably going to place an order now that I have been reminded of that site, LOL...yikes

 

I do have to go check out what is on Tim Chapman's site too.....I have seen him on YouTube videos...yes, that guy really knows what he is talking about for sure....Great info for all of us ginger/alpinia lovers for sure....do you grow any yourself?...they are so easy to grow

[mnorell]

Lee, I had Alpinia japonica in my garden in Natchez (9a) and the patch continues to spread and thrive after many years. I also got those plants from Dave Skinner. A beautiful plant with very charming pink blossoms every March-April. What is crazy is that this miniature Alpinia, with its attractive foliage and flowers, can stay evergreen down to 20 degrees Fahrenheit (but with best appearance under at least loose evergreen canopy) and yet nobody seems to know about it. Even though it blooms on second-year growth, anywhere in 9a, even some years in 8b, growers can have a well-behaved, low, evergreen, tropical-looking ground-cover ginger that blooms predictably. I think the problem is that it is slow growing until it is a decent-sized clump, and thus would not be a big money-maker for commercial growers.

I used to grow many unusual Costus and Alpinia, Heliconia, and many of the other Zingiberales (Globba, Curcuma, Cornukaempferia, et al.) in Natchez as an experiment and many did well until they got slammed by something or other. We no longer own that house but are friends with the new owners, so do visit and keep up on the progress. Many gingers eventually died out with the assaults of 2010, 2011, 2014, 2018 and also just because I ran out of room and they wound up in too much shade. But a few things are unstoppable and still do well in that garden with little or no care. Aside from the several strong Heliconia and a few Costus that keep on trucking, Alpinia japonica and also the very beautiful, showy 'green ice' Calathea are astoundingly well-adapted and dependable long-term plants for 9a areas in the Deep South, as are several of the Zingiber 'shampoo gingers.' And of course I kept a clump of Alpinia zerumbet, even though I never saw it flower there. Its foliage is really worthwhile, flowers or not. And certainly there are many beautiful species in all these genera that thrive in New Orleans. I hope you get a very nice collection going there.