Ginger Lilly

vilmabretherton41902

Bought some Ginger Lilly rhizones is it best to plant them in a pot till next spring then plant them in the garden or plant them in the garden now?

Paul B3

I have found that Hedychiums are only of borderline hardiness ; excessive moisture (like we're seeing now) will destroy them . If mine I would plant in a pot and overwinter (frost-free if possible) , then plant out in late Spring .

Joyce Goldenlily

I planted some ginger lilies about 10 years ago. My soil is really gritty and poor so I used several bags of mixed top soil and compost to create a raised mound of soil, covered it with weed membrane and then topped it with 4-5 inches of slate chippings. I cut through the membrane just folding the surplus membrane back under itself to form circular planting holes.
I planted an orange and a pale lemon ginger lily. They both did well and flowered every year for several years until The Beast from the East, a particularly hard winter that killed the orange one. The lemon one has increased in size, spreading steadily until I am now wondering how to reduce it. The tubers grow thick and strong and are difficult to remove. I have already given my daughter some pieces to grow in her garden.
I remove the seed heads in late autumn but leave the remainder of the stems and foliage to die back naturally, It looks untidy, a pile of thick dead stems but I feel they give the tubers some protection from weather. It is very wet down here in Cornwall, summer and winter, but my plants have survived outside. I do not remove the dead stems until late Spring and have never fed my plants.
As your plants are new it would probably be best to keep them in pots in unheated frost free conditions until next year when you could plant them out, in late Spring. I think good drainage may well be the answer to their surviving. I want to try the orange one again but will bear in mind extra protection if hard frosts are forecast.
The perfume is wonderful on a warm summer day.
Good luck.

vilmabretherton41902

Thank you Joyce  for your advice I will start them off in a pot then plant out next spring.

Fire

@Joyce Goldenlily  Do you have any pics to share, by any chance? I am plotting some hedychiums for next year. To go with cannas and dahlias

Joyce Goldenlily

Fire said:

@Joyce Goldenlily  Do you have any pics to share, by any chance? I am plotting some hedychiums for next year. To go with cannas and dahlias

Sorry, I do not have a camera, mobile phone or pics. I am still living in the last century.

My clump is about 10 years old now, around 8ft long and 5ft wide, growing on the top of the mound. They were spectacular this year. I think your idea for putting them with dahlias and cannas would work really well. Mine grow to about 5ft tall and I have a tall grass, that looks like a very refined pampas grass, growing next to it. It gives a good wafty contrast to the solid stiff growth of the ginger lilies. I did notice the orange one used to flower about 3 weeks before the creamy one. I think there must have been around 18 flower stems this year which lasted a good 3 weeks. Gorgeous.
I will try to remember to ask my daughter to take a pic next year. I also have lower-growing grasses planted around the bottom of the lilies to soften the overall look of the mound.