PlantFiles: Peacock Ginger
Kaempferia roscoeana

I found this growing in a corner at my father's house. I dug up the tubers and planted them in 1 gallon pots at my house. They are multiplying and growing like crazy! Beautiful Foliage. Very easy to care for. I have them resting under my oak tree and they love it.

I have no idea just how this plant came to my garden. I noticed it in a pot one day and really liked it. It has appeared in a couple of other pots since. I haven't planted it for fear of losing it. Maybe I will keep one to enjoy in a pot and put the other two in the ground to increase, I hope.

I have successfully grown this ground cover ginger for the past 2 years in borderline Zone 8b/9a, with winter temperatures below freezing at times. I use a mulch of a few inches of hay for winter protection. In this climate, it disappears completely below ground after a winter freeze and doesn't emerge again until mid-May. It begings to flower immediately and continues to flower until winter. It hasn't spread prolifically, probably due to the winter die back, but it adds a nice touch of light violet blue with flat flowers about 1.25 inch wide beneath my taller ginger plants.

Great short plant for shady area's. Mine is growing at the base of a Sable palm in total shade. Here in zone 10 the plants do well in sandy soil. In zone 10 the plant dies back in November then comes back in mid March. It can easily be spread by dividing rhizomes and spreading then covering with soil. In the spring they will grow up as though they have been there forever. I have given plants away to people that have great success growing them indoors. The velvety green/bronze leaves are almost iridescent above and a purplish/red underneath with a distinct hairy feel. They bloom continuiously from late March through mid October in zone 10.