Alpinia zerumbet

Alpinia zerumbut Variegata

There is a plain green-leaved version of this ornamental ginger from the family Zingiberaceae, often known as shell ginger, but the one that I have is Alpinia zerumbut 'Variegata', which has stunning yellow/green variegated foliage (ht 1.5 m). It is an excellent plant to bring light and colour into gloomy parts of the garden. It is best in part or dappled shade. My plant flowers around December and January, with trusses of creamy-coloured, waxy buds opening to reveal yellow and red shell-like blooms. Both forms of Alpinia that I grow are said to prefer rich soil, but mine thrive in quite ordinary areas of the garden.

It makes a big clump over time, so I just remove some of the old, ratty canes right at the base every so often. These are often canes that have bloomed. If individual old leaves get shabby, I just cut these off. New plants can be propagated from canes levered out at the base.

It is a fab plant to use for 'colour echoes' in the garden: such as being paired with lime-leaved Xanthosoma 'Lime Zinger'or with the yellow blooms of the golden shrimp plant, Pachystachys lutea, an Acanthaceae member that is seemingly never without a flower in a shaded section of my garden (pictured above).

I have seen the leaves of this plant used most effectively in a large vase with the plain green leaves of Alpinia nutans.