How to Grow Ginger Lilies

Ginger lilies, or Hedychium coronarium, also go by the name of butterfly lily named for their small, frilled blooms. These ginger cousins bear 3- to 7-foot-tall flower stalks with stacks of white, yellow, red and orange flowers and may reach over 10 feet in some situations. They grow as semi-hardy perennials in the USDA Plant Hardiness zones 8 to 10. In colder zones, the plants die in fall and require spring replanting. Plant these bright, interesting plants as rhizomes in the home garden and maintain them for a season of decorative foliage and blooming.

Things You'll Need

• Organic compost/humus/garden soil
• Garden fork
• Mulch
• Pruning shears

Instructions

1. Plant ginger lily rhizomes, or bulbs, in midspring for a warm start and growing season. Choose sites with full-to-filtered sun and quick year-round drainage. Plant full beds of ginger lilies for effect or use them as individual plants.

2. Amend the soil to a depth of 8 to 10 inches for good soil drainage. Turn garden loam, humus, organic compost or leaf mold into the tilled soil at a rate of 1 inch of amendment per 2 inches of depth. Ginger lilies need moist, loose and nutritious soil for growing, and generally don't do well in dry or poor foundations.

3. Plant ginger lily rhizomes under 3 to 4 inches of soil at every 8 to 24 inches in the bed, depending on ultimate cultivar size. Water each site until the soil is moist down to the rhizomes and spread 1 inch of organic mulch over the soil around the plantings. Mulch helps maintain soil moisture and warmth, and restricts weed growth.

4. Water the ginger lilies with 2 inches of water every week and maintain the mulch layer. Look for sprouting in 2 to 3 weeks.

5. Cut the flower stalks of the lilies after the flowers fade to encourage repeat blooming.

Tips & Warnings

• Mulch ginger lilies with 5 to 6 inches of organic mulch in fall, before the first frost, to keep them through the winter.

• According to FloriData, ginger lilies grow from 3 to 7 feet tall,with leaves 8 to 24 inches long, depending on the cultivar.

• Ginger lilies are native to India.

References

• Plant Biology: Hedychium Ginger Lily
• Floridata: Hedychium Coronarium