Genus: Zingiber

Yes, and what is it? A beehive, where the honey is made. This ginger plant is called beehive gingerplant. No wonder!

You are right Amy, it does - I've got two of the things and have never used them - I always end up getting a teaspoon !!!

I,ve been trying to think what these remind me of .... it,s just come to me , you know those wooden things that you dip into honey jars..... LOL

Interesting Marguerite, I'll look for the pictures when it tunrs red :)

Hi Charlieb, that is exactly what I thought too. And the white Etlingera elatior is even plasticier, it has petals thick and waxy, they don't feel real.

Gwendas they really feel waxy and are stiff and strong. They will stand like that for months on end. Of course Pottygardener I will take a pic once the flowers appear. You can see how it is one stalk with a flower on top, whilst the plant is next to it and carries the leaves on another stalk. Indeed, quite unusual.

these look great , lovely textures.

very nice !

Oooh I really like that ..Amazing :0)

Do like this ginger, can not wait till it turns red.

Unusual plant, will you post pictures when it is in flower Marguerite? Would be interested to see them.

Interesting... I can see how they might have a waxy feel. My first thought was they look plastic-ish! : )

They are real special and quite unusual. They will turn red later on!

thank you Michaella.

Amazing structure on this plant :o)

beautiful!

I am not sure, because from each little "hive" ( it's called beehive ginger ) a small flower can grow, you can see a few out there, brownish white in colour. Mine didn't grow all flowers from those hives. So yes, I will have to do some research on that one, as I thought these were the flowers of the long stalks next to them, but you could be right, why would a flower from a plant come out or the ground seperately ? Interesting question.

What a cool plant. Are they filled with water? Are those the flowers or have most of the flowers fallen off here?

I honestly don't know. They dry out naturally on their stems and are not a pretty sight. It took about 5 months. They are a very wet plant on the inside, soggy and waterlogged, so I presume it would take ages to dry out.Sorry, I can't help you.

Hi Nadia, I doubt if you can grow those where you live. It is a tropical plant and I don't think it will take to your winters kindly. But if you have a hothouse, then perhaps it could be possible. They don't need much sun as they grow in the shade.

They look so cool ! I can see how it got that name.

super cool, are you from australia? can I grow these plants in Ontario canada?

Marguerite, do you know if it is possible to dry these flowers?

Hello Gloriosa, Thanks for your comment and appreciation. Well, these little beehives grew in a few months from the rhizome outof the ground. The largest one was about 40 cm and lasted for months. But at the end of autumn they just wilted and dried up and then you can just pull them outof their socket and use them as mulch. If your ginger plants are 1.20 m tall they should soon flower. It depends which ones you have, some are taller than others. Some of the spiral gingers grew at least to 2.50 high. One stem will get only one bunch of flowers and then it will gradually die off. This process also takes a while ( up to 2 months I have seen ) and eventually it will be dry and you can pull it up. I have not been here long enough to see their whole cycle. But they definitely all finish flowering in winter. I am still looking at half green flowerless plants. When last winter I cut some off and threw the stalk on the ground, I found that they had started shooting on their grooves again, then I took all those stalks to the tip, as I didn't want a jungle with gingerplants. I already had so many I could not walk in between and had to make paths. I think your temperature is excellent, I would say they wouldn't even need that much humidity as it hardly is that humidity ( did you mean 80% ) here, only at the end of spring when the build up starts. I think yours will do famously.
Cheerio, Marguerite.

Hello Marguerite - I love you photo! I've just planted some Gingers in my hot pool house here in the UK. It is about 80 deg C humidity in there and averages around 27 deg C most of the time, day and night. Do you think they will 'flower'? How long do they take from tuber to flowering do you know? They are now about 120cms tall grown from tuber this year. Any help well received! Many thanks Gloriosa.

Strange looking, but nice one