These hedychium need to be kept in a greenhouse all summer and it’s not because they are not hardy. In fact some, like H. maximum for example, can be left outside in a pot (if you’re short of space) and then be brought in from April. The thing about a lot of hedychium, and where some growers have gone wrong, is to try to re-create the partly shaded forest edge that is their natural habitat. They come from a lot further south where the sunlight is far stronger and there is no real dormant season. As a result they need full sun here and even that is not enough for some, and of course,life being like that, it would have to be the very best ones that need this. American books tend to suggest a much earlier flowering than we experience here. This is because equivalent climate zones (which are based principally on minimum temperatures) are considerably further south and hence have much more stronger sunshine. The conclusion would be to give up on these tropical ones, but we have found, as has Andrew Gaunt (no relation to John, son of Edward III and uncle of Richard II) who runs the National Collection at Chichester Gingers, that if they are baked in a greenhouse from April until August then they flower profusely through August/September. In colder areas this works with all of the previous group. S now some mouth watering shots of beautifully scented flowers. also note that these ones flower for longer, in many cases a single inflorescence carries on opening for up to 4 weeks).
