Spices & Medicinals of the Ginger Family

Of the 1200 ginger species in the world many nurseries have collections of ornamental gingers that have beautiful flowers. Our interest is in the 100 or so species we have found in literature that are used by people as food, spice and medicine. We have been collecting specimens from SE Asia, a centre of diversity of the ginger family, as well as the culinary & medicinal recipes from the village people where they are grown. Our collection is still modest and we’re still on a big ‘learning curve’. We are interested in acquiring new species or information on their uses and we are happy to exchange plants, information or money in return. Our complete collection numbers around 30 species currently. We can provide the complete list to collectors who may have plants to exchange.

We prefer to send out trimmed & bare rooted rhizomes only during dormancy between the 1st of July & the 30th of September. This is cheaper and more convenient. Some species are susceptible to a stem borer and because of our reluctance to use systemic chemicals we tolerate it. By trimming off affected parts we ensure that the pest does not spread to new areas. The borer, although wide spread does not appear to be a serious pest, plants still grow and it is only toward the end of the growing season that some species become noticeably affected, the rhizomes are largely unaffected