Hardy Gingers: Including Hedychium, Roscoea, and Zingiber

By T. M. E. Branney

Foreword by Tony Schilling

Perfect for anyone with a rabid fondness for gingers and a desire to see them restored to their rightful place in horticulture.

Biology Digest

Flamboyant members of the family Zingiberaceae â€" including Hedychium, Curcuma, Roscoea, and Zingiber â€" are once again on the wanted list as people discover their intricately constructed flowers, beautiful perfumes, and lush foliage. Although the majority of gingers originate in the tropics, a substantial number come from temperate zones or high altitudes and are perfectly at home in the temperate garden. These hardy gingers are the primary subject of this book. In the wild, gingers fit a variety of ecological niches, and diversity is the key to their success in the garden. They make dramatic focal points in tropical-style plantings but can look equally impressive in traditional herbaceous borders, woodland settings, rock gardens, water gardens and containers.

Branney charts the history of gingers from their 19th-century heyday through modern-day hybridization programmes to the latest introductions of new species. A comprehensive plant directory ranges wide in its coverage. Valuable cultivation advice includes techniques for breaking dormancy, maintaining soil nutrition, and understanding individual plants' hardiness requirements. Captivating photographs complement the descriptions and convey the distinctive charms of these irresistible plants. This book brims with new finds that will tempt newcomers, delight enthusiasts, and ensure hardy gingers a place in every 21st-century garden.

  • Format: Hardcover
  • Pages: 268 pp.
  • Book dimensions: 7 x 9 in. (230 x 180 mm.)
  • Images: 90 color photos, 4 line drawings
  • ISBN-10: 0881926779
  • ISBN-13: 9780881926774

Media reviews

"Hardy Gingers is an extremely useful book for anyone interested in the ginger family, and it is clear that there are members of this group that can be grown in many of the climate zones of the Western states."

—Josh Schechtel, Pacific Horticulture

"Deftly covers the history of the cultivation of the different gingers ... Perfect for anyone with a rabid fondness for gingers and a desire to see them restored to their rightful place in horticulture–poking out of neighborhood gardens worldwide."

—Biology Digest

"The A-Z list of gingers he supplies includes the temperature zone and height of each along with a detailed description, and includes a very fine collection of colored photographs."

—SciTech Book News

"A unique, authoritative guide. While most may associate ginger with tropical climates, it's the more unusual temperate-zone gingers that are the focus here–and there's a wealth of them."

—Bookwatch

"From classification and ecology to propagation and morphology, the rudiments of ginger cultivation are covered in the book's opening chapters, with particular attention paid to gingers' culinary and medicinal applications. Branney then presents an encyclopedic analysis of approximately 300 varieties of gingers hardy in the temperate zones of the U.S., a relatively narrow climatological range that still yields a wide array of gardening opportunities."

—Carol Haggas, Booklist

About the author

T. M. E. Branney

T. M. E. Branney is co-owner of The Europa Nursery, which specializes in rare, temperate-woodland plants. Branney designs gardens for private clients and has had articles and photographs published in plant journals all over the world. He has traveled to Southeast Asia, Central America, and Madeira to observe plants in the wild, take photographs, and collect seed.

Read more about T. M. E. Branney

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