Hedychium ‘Gahilii’

Hedychium ‘Gahilii’ is a really special ginger with the most amazing pastel pink large flowers held on robust stems up to 1.50cm high. Each flower spike can be up to 20cm long with a dozen or so individual fragrant flowers. At Big Plant Nursery they tend to produce the flowering stems mid to summer and continue up to the first frosts like most of the Hedychium we grow here. The foliage is quite broad and jungly too reaching 120-150cm each year on sturdy quite chunky stems.

Like all Hedychium ‘Gahillii’ is classed as half hardy and as such can be grown year round in a container very successfully, placed outdoors during late spring and brought undercover during the winter. They can be treated like cannas or dahlias, kept dryish and frost free during the winter. It is normal for the foliage to be burnt off by frost, I prune my gingers back to 15cm once frosted. If like us you live in milder locations it is possible to cultivate this hedychium year round outdoors planted in a part sun position. I recommend fertile soils for best results, add lots of organic compost and mulch around the rhizomes each year to prevent them from freezing. Hedychiums respond well to feeding with rapid growth once the weather warms up so like all jungly fast growing plants additional liquid feeds of seaweed extract really help to get them moving. Usually growth starts each year around mid May.

Hedychiums are still not as widely planted as they should be, they are exotic in appearance, have a wonderful range of flowers, foliage and many are perfumed. They are remarkably tough when established and easy to cultivate once you understand their basic requirements. Help us spread the word!