Shell Ginger Plant (Alpinia zerumbet)

About the Shell Ginger Plant (Alpinia zerumbet)

Shell ginger forms big, graceful clumps of glossy, aromatic leaves on arching canes, and from them hang long, drooping sprays of waxy, porcelain-white buds tipped in pink, like strings of seashells. The buds open to frilly yellow flowers with red and yellow throats and a soft scent. Flowering mainly from spring into summer on mature canes, it is one of the hardiest gingers, coping with cooler highland nights and short dry spells better than most. In Okinawa its leaves are used to wrap and flavour rice cakes. Available as a rhizome, a potted young plant or a flowering-size clump.

How to Care for It

To plant a rhizome, lay it horizontally 3–5 cm deep in loose, compost-rich, well-drained soil with the buds facing up, water once and keep it barely moist until shoots appear; too much water before then can rot it. Grow in sun to partial shade with regular water. Flowers form on canes from the previous year, so cut out only old canes that have bloomed. Feed monthly while growing and mulch to keep the roots cool and moist.

Sculptural flowers, fragrant blooms and edible rhizomes. Our tropical gingers include beehive ginger (awapuhi) in golden, red, pink and chocolate, shampoo ginger, red and pink torch ginger, red ginger, shell and butterfly ginger, plus culinary ginger and turmeric. Sold as rhizomes, potted plants or flowering clumps.

Growing Profile

Botanical name

Alpinia zerumbet

Family

Zingiberaceae

Native to

East Asia: southern China, Taiwan and southern Japan

Mature height

2–3 m

Plant spacing

1.5 m

Time to first flowers

1.5–2 years

Light

Sun to part shade

Water

Moderate

Cold tolerance

down to -1 °C

Best climates

Humid tropics, Dry tropics, Subtropical, Mild highlands

Grows in a pot

Yes

Ships from

Our farms in Yucatán & Chiapas