Freshly harvested ginger rhizomes.
Fall is finally here and we are beginning to enjoy our first few bursts of cold air coming in from the northwest.
Ginger plants have a distinctive, spicy odor, though you may have to get at the roots to smell it. While all of these spices can be grown, did you know that edible ginger, Zingiber officinale, is one of the easiest roots to grow in North Florida? Spreading through its root system, some ginger plants have “escaped” their cultivated habitats and now grow wild in the warmer parts of the United States. During the warm seasons, you will enjoy this perennial’s dark green narrow leaf blades, and although not as showy as ornamental gingers, it will occasionally produce green oblong stalks with white and dark red fragrant flowers. After digging up the rhizomes, allow them to air dry in the shade. They are very low maintenance, grow fairly quickly and flower all year. No. You can then take out pieces as you need them throughout the year, and it can easily be grated frozen. For many, this inspires us to prepare dishes with all of our favorite seasonal spices – nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger come to mind. The time frame in which the plant you suspect is ginger is blossoming is one clue to the plant's identity. Elizabeth Tumbarello has been writing since 2006, with her work appearing on various websites. Forget popping in non-edible ornamental plants… why do that when you can grow something delicious and beautiful? Your garden will just add to the natural beauty of Florida. So get ready to make ginger bread, gingersnaps, ginger muffins, ginger ale, ginger-based sauces, ginger spiced soup, and so much more, all with your fresh, spicy, pungent homegrown ginger root! Ginger produces small flowers on the spike. Therefore, it is often an excellent choice for yards with many trees, as is common among our many oaks and pines. When our cool nights return and the tops die back, it is the signal to dig up the roots, which will have multiplied, and take some in for eating and place some back in the ground for next year’s harvest. If you live in the southern half of the state, and want a work free garden, then this is your plant.
Ginger blossoms in early to late spring. Red Button Ginger is a great plant to put in your garden where you need something to ‘fill’ it in.
© Copyright 2020 Hearst Communications, Inc. Zedcor Wholly Owned/PhotoObjects.net/Getty Images. All ornamental ginger plants are considered tropical because they prefer a warm, moist climate. Also look at the time of day the plant is blooming; ginger blossoms open up mid-morning through early afternoon and close up at night to preserve moisture. Prized for its aromatic roots used in cooking, this plant grows mainly as a cultivated specimen. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. They grow to a height of about 3 – 3 1/2 feet and as you can see in the photo, they have beautiful darkish green leaves and each stalk has a red flower on top. To make your ginger root last, place in a sealed bag, and store in your freezer, peeled or unpeeled. The leaves around the blooms are green, but they have a transparent or translucent edge. Mississippi State University: Edible Ginger Only a Few Species. It is an indigenous perennial flowering plant to regions of the South Pacific, such as Malaysia, New Caledonia and the British Solomon Islands. Are Peruvian Lilies Poisonous Flowers for Cats? Red ginger (Alpinia purpurata) is also sometimes called fire ginger, pine cone ginger and ostrich plume. The bottom line is they are not very cold tolerant. Photo by Molly Jameson. Tumbarello attended Hocking College and is pursuing her Associate of Applied Science in veterinary technology from San Juan College. Plant a couple plants in an empty space and before long, it will fill it in and make it look lush and full.
Other popular landscape plants in this group include assorted heliconias, shell ginger and torch ginger, white bird-of-paradise, bird-of-paradise, and the traveler's tree.
While all of these spices can be grown, did you know that edible ginger, Zingiber officinale, is one of the easiest roots to grow in North Florida? It is as simple as planting a piece of fresh ginger root, or rhizome, in the spring and keeping the root moist for a few weeks while they sprout. For growing bananas to eat see: Growing Fruit In Florida. If the plant you think is ginger has a blossom that opens mid-afternoon or is blooming in the evening, it’s most likely not ginger.
If the plant is blooming in summer, fall or winter, it likely isn’t ginger. Some varieties of ginger cultivated for their blooms have orange, pink or bright yellow blooms in the same shape and configuration as regular ginger. Let’s get digging. Learn about 18 Types of Ginger Plants and their uses. Both the foliage and the inflorescence of ginger grow on stems. If the odor is not present when sniffing the root, the plant in question is probably not ginger. They are not cold tolerant so I would only plant this in zones 10b – 11. Scratch gently at the root to see if you can smell the distinctive ginger odor. Can you eat the root like you can a ginger root you buy in the store? If the ginger plant is fertile and has flowers, they are usually yellow-green hued with purple bases near the spike of the plant and cream-colored spots or splotches throughout the petals and near the tips of the blooms. Ginger blossoms grow separately from their foliage. These plants have long, thin leaves that point upward and produce vibrant-colored blooms year-round. However, these sterile plants cannot be identified by their blooms and instead have to be identified by other means, such as smell, root structure or leaves. It doesn’t belong to the same family as what you would think of as a true ginger plant. Ginger (Zingiber officinale) is a tropical plant hardy in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 8 through 12. Plant a couple plants in an empty space and before long, it will fill it in and make it look lush and full.
by Molly Jameson | Oct 26, 2016 | Edible Landscape, Perennials. Florida is correctly named. SEVEN YEARS AGO, GROWER JOHN GOSS OF JG’S Tropical Plants started collecting edible gingers. When I worked in a plant nursery owned by some good friends of mine, I got to meet a lot of beautiful gingers. The blooms of a ginger plant form a dense, compact spike on a stem measuring up to 3 inches tall. It is a beautiful place where plants grow easily and thrive exuberantly. The roots, a rhizome structure, are shaped like thick, gnarled, fat fingers. Ginger (Zingiber officinale) is a tropical plant hardy in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 8 through 12.
Growing ginger in Florida … Designed by Elegant Themes | Powered by WordPress, Full Moon Fever: Wolf Spiders and Werewolves, Leon County’s Seed Library Program Continues On. You might be able to safely up to Vero Beach on the east coast and Sarasota on the west coast. Ginger prefers soil rich with organic matter and partial shade. One of the few vendors of edible ginger (Zingiber officinale), turmeric (Curcuma longa) and galangal in South Florida, Goss loves their health benefits as well as their versatility, extending beyond the tender roots.Ginger foliage tastes somewhat like lemongrass, he says. Ginger plants do not require a lot of pruning like other plants do, … She wants to know if all ginger plants are edible. What Are Tall Outside Plants That Grow in the Shade? It means something that has flowers in Spanish. Required fields are marked *.
These ginger family plants can be grown for ornamental and culinary purposes, both in pots and gardens. Just because there is an absence of flowers does not mean the plant isn’t a ginger plant. Most ginger cultivated for culinary use is sterile and does not produce flowers. It is as simple as planting a piece of fresh ginger root, or rhizome, in the spring and keeping the root moist for a few weeks while they sprout. But Avon isn’t asking about toxic chemicals in store-bought ginger. Ornamental Gingers and Edible Gingers. In a few months, ginger plants will pop up in a lovely row and it’s off to the races. Cactus, Agave & Succulents, House Plants, Ornamentals, Your email address will not be published. Red Button Ginger is a great plant to put in your garden where you need something to ‘fill’ it in. Apart from common ginger, there are other species that are grown not just for taste but for their appearance as well. The root structure is close to the surface of the plant, less than 4 inches below the ginger blossoms and approximately 1 inch below the soil surface. Heliconiaceae After spacing the roots on the surface like that, I buried them all a few inches deep. She is an animal lover who volunteers with her local Humane Society. How to Identify Ginger Plant Blooms.
Your email address will not be published. It also has very few pests and can be largely ignored as it grows throughout the year.
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