Abstract
In recent years the spiral gingers (genus Costus) have become more and more popular as ornamental garden plants. Dave Skinner describes these plants, including his approach to identification of New World Costus, corrections to some common identification errors, information about cold hardy species, and information about Costus hybrids and cultivars.
Highlights
About 20 years ago I began to focus my gardening interests on gingers, and on the so-called “spiral gingers” in the plant family Costaceae
I soon found there were some species of Costus that grew to 3 meters and more in height, while others such as the African species Costus spectabilis is flat to the ground with a mere height of a few centimeters
The plant family Costaceae includes other genera besides the genus Costus that is the focus of this article
Summary
About 20 years ago I began to focus my gardening interests on gingers, and on the so-called “spiral gingers” in the plant family Costaceae. A few cultivated Costus have variegated leaves with yellow and white stripes or a mosaic pattern. Some Costus species flower both ways, terminally and basally. The true flowers of Costus are either tubular shaped in colors of red, yellow or orange; or they have a more open labellum in white, yellow or red. I grew what I could find that is “root hardy” outdoors and soon added a greenhouse to grow the more tender species. In 2005 I made my first trip to the tropics to see these wonderful plants in the wild growing in their native habitats. Costus species are prone to natural hybridization, and I have seen many examples in the wild where a single plant exhibits characters of two different species that are found growing locally
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