These pink flowering plants were planted last wet season..Then, they simply disappeared during the following terrible hot season last year. I thought they were dead.
But with the early rains this year , they sprouted miraculously and then bloomed once more.
What's their scientific name?
Thanks alot for the help :)
Balaitalisai
Here's a close up of those pink flowering plants...
Ooops, sorry, I attached the wrong file.
Here's the close-up
They are corcurum, check what variety. Belle
They look like a species of Cucurma. After the wet season they normally die back to the tubers and then grow again the following wet season. There's a lot of really nice ones from Thailand. They're related to gingers. The native one here is just called Native Ginger, it's different to the one you have.
It is Curcuma zedoaria, Rose Turmeric.
It has medicinal and culinary uses.
http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/z/zeodar01.html
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/58846/
http://www.stuartxchange.org/LuyaLuyahan.html
Thanks Belle, Metro and Tropicbreeze!
I have Curcumas too, Balaitalisai. I bought them as cutflowers from vendors outside Church one day, two years ago...I planted some of the flowers that came with portions of ginger tubers attached, and they have multiplied pretty quickly. Curcuma flowers appear during the rainy season (mine have just begun to sprout after two weeks of daily rain). After flowering season, the leaves can persist for two months. For as long as the leaves are green I leave them alone, so the underground gingers can continue feeding---and producing more offsets. Then when the leaves turn yellow I cut them off at the bases, and wait for the next rainy season. Curcumas make very good cutflowers bunched in a vase. When harvesting flowers leave some ginger attached to the stems so the flowers would last longer.
This message was edited May 23, 2011 7:46 AM
Thanks, Alileo, for the tip on how to care for these plants and use them in flower arrangements.
These plants were also planted at the same time in a sloping terrain of my property, as shown in the picture. But unlike the ones on ground level which have flowered, these have just grown taller and have not blossomed at all despite the rains. Any idea why?
Perhaps because slopes are drier than flat areas...Curcumas seem to like water--I have provoked blooms in summer before with my over-zealous watering. It's not good to keep them soaking for long, though, as the gingers could rot. Anyway, the leaves look so green in the picture...I'd leave them alone for now...you'll probably have a lot more plants next year.
Alileo, you just gave me an idea which will perhaps help flowering plants on the sloping terrain have ample water and bloom.... I will landscape the sloping terrain into terraces...like our Benguet mountain terraces....so the soil can hold water more.... I am excited! :)
Thanks a lot!
