Lars, that is just beautiful. Wish I could grow it here.

Nancy

Thanks for telling me the name. I have some that came with he house, 20 years ago, and I never knew it's name! have never seen it blooming in a nursery, so I just called it ginger! I find it surprizing that it grows in the total shade of my huge Japanese maple.

Lars,
Clearly, as I reconfigure the plants I want to put in my fenced-in part of my yard, I'm running everything by you first! You have such a wonderful eye. I'm worried about the cold/heat here and the fact that we are now on well water with no autosprinkler, as before. Plus, I'm well known for my ability to kill anything and everything! But it's getting time to focus on some color and greenery. I can no longer claim "we just moved in" and get away with it!

Don't you and a couple of others (Diana?) have albums of your gardens? I'd like to take a peek.
Deb

Deb, I have a gallery of sorts, but it's not arranged very well. What zone are you in? Here in Venice we have not had any recorded frost, and our normal low in January 50°, and it is extremely rare to have any temp below 40° - maybe once in 10-15 years.

This ginger is also known as Hedychium Gardenerianum and is very hardy - it will survive and bloom in zone 8, or so I've heard. It also does well in the shade, unlike some gingers that need more sun to bloom. Mine actually got sunburn after I transplanted it because it had been grown in partial shade in the nursery. It should be adjusted to full sun by next year, however.

Lars

Lars, that is just gorgeous and I'll bet the smell is wonderful.

I'm sure it won't grow in MIchigan, so I'll just have to enjoy yours.

Annie

Wow, that's amazing and so exotic! Wish I could smell it.

Sigh....I can only wish....and think of my lilacs and lily of the valley....
Linda C

That's a spectacular sight..Like many not for my climate though..You're lucky to be able to grow just about anything...

Just beautiful Lars -- tho like Moniqueb not about to happen here -- wish we had Emeril's smellavision !

Diane

Hi Lars!
I snooped through almost all of your pix and have some favorites. The flower I like best is titled "front yard flower." Wow! What an unexpected burst of beauty! I love that one! [Philodendron 2 scared me! LOL! Was that for Jessy?!!] You have some other beautiful flowers, as well. I'm in the DC area on the Northern VA side. I don't even know what zone I'm in, I'm embarrassed to say. Zone 7 seems to come to mind, but I don't know why. It gets in the teens in winter and we just have been in the high 90s, low 100s.

The food pictures are wondeful, too. Yes, I vote for smellavision. You've got some beautiful scenery pictures.

Thanks for sharing them!!
Deb

Is the Kahili Lily the same thing as a Ginger Lily? I would love to be able to grow a Ginger Lilly just for the aroma, but it gets too cold here.

I would really like to see the Joshua Tree Bird up close. It looks like it would be beautiful.

Is that Datura in your yard? It's beautiful! I also love the pictures of your peacock, the arbor over the driveway and your photo labeled ginger or canna.

Thanks for sharing all the photos with us.

Beverly

The Kahili Ginger is also called Ginger Lily and is very hardy. According to this site, it can be grown in zone 7b. The fragrance is similar to honeysuckle, and I have honeysuckle also. I will say that my other favorite fragrance is citrus blossoms, which have fragrance only at night.

Yes I do have datura in the yard, and we constantly have to cut it back because it grows into the telephone/cable lines. The picture of the peacock is from the L.A. County Arboretum, but I don't go there in the summer because of the heat.

I believe the Joshua Tree bird is {{gwi:1470380}}, and lives mainly in the Sonora Desert. I took that picture before I learned how to use the zoom on my camera :(.

Lars

The fragrance of a Ginger Lily filled my local nursery and I asked what it was. The owner said he had to keep it inside in the winter. I live in zone 7a. If global warming continues to get worse I may soon be as warm as 7b. Perhaps I should get some and try it anyway.

Wild honeysuckle used to fill our roadside fencerows with their aroma and it's another fragrance I love. Most people keep their fencerows cleaned off now, so I rarely see any honeysuckle. I think it's somewhat invasive or I would plant some.

Beverly