Dedicated To The Red Ginger

Red Ginger aka Alpinia Purpurata: Though you're no longer seen in our garden since mid August, your beauty and grandeur still lingers in our hearts & minds, and occasionally viewed on our computer and photo albums. Now, you're being shared globally too - wow!! Be happy and grow well in your new home with Roland and Julianna Goh.

Alpinia Purpurata ‘Red’ is a rhizomatous perennial that grows up to about 8' tall and develops into large clusters. Each terminal, upright inflorescence has a cone of deep red bracts with small red or white flowers emerging between the bracts.

These red spikes which blooms the whole year round are very long lasting and very showy against their large shiny green oblong leaves.

The Red Ginger, sometimes even named ‘Jungle King’ can be propagated from rhizomes or plantlets that grow at the base of the red spikes. They grow well on the ground rather than in containers and are excellent for landscape. They should be grown in semi-shaded areas preferably with morning sun, watered and fertilized regularly for optimum growth. Since they’re long lasting, they’re great as cut flowers and in tropical flower arrangements.

We had to part with the Red Ginger because it needed ground space for optimum growth which was lacking in our garden and its tough dead clumps had to be dug out and removed for new growth every two to three years. This job was damaging on our old feeble hands!