Hedychium flavescens (Yellow Ginger Lily)

Heavily perfumed, Hedychium flavescens (Yellow Ginger Lily) is an upright rhizomatous perennial boasting luminous clusters of pale to lemon yellow, butterfly-like flowers, each with a 2-lobed lip, in late summer and early fall. The spicily-scented blossoms are borne at the tips of upright stems clothed in pointed, softly hairy, lance-shaped leaves up to 2 ft. long (60 cm). Even when not in flower, Yellow Ginger Lily looks great on patios or decks with a tropical theme. Yellow Ginger Lily ranks as a top choice among tropical flowers for enthusiasts and gardeners.

• Grows up to 3-6 ft. high (90-180 cm) and 2-3 ft. wide (60-90 cm). Yellow Ginger Lily can spread considerably via its creeping underground rhizomes to form dense thickets.
• Performs best in full sun or part shade in organically rich, moist, well-drained soils.
• A pretty addition to beds and borders, containers, cottage gardens, or Mediterranean gardens.
• Plant your rhizomes in the ground in spring after the last frost date. In cold winter areas, lift them in fall and store them for winter in slightly moist vermiculite or peat in a cool, dry location. Containers should be overwintered indoors in a cool, dry, frost-free location.
• Keep an eye out for glasshouse red spider mites, aphids, and root rot.
• Native to the Eastern Himalayas region of India, Nepal, and Bhutan. It has naturalized in other areas and is considered an invasive species in some parts of the world.
• Hedychium is part of the ginger family, Zingiberaceae, which includes culinary favorites like ginger (Zingiber officinale), turmeric (Curcuma longa), cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum), and galangal or Thai ginger (Alpinia galanga). Ornamental varieties are just as eye-catching, with species such as torch ginger (Etlingera elatior), shell ginger (Alpinia zerumbet), white ginger lily (Hedychium coronarium), dense ginger lily (Hedychium densiflorum), and the tropical showstopper Kahili ginger (Hedychium gardnerianum).