Growing Gingers in the UK

The Himalayan Flowering Ginger and Chinese Butterfly Ginger Lilies are just some of the easy growing Gingers in the UK and are grown for their foliage and their exotic, colourful, often fragrant flowering heads which flower in late summer or autumn and consist of spikes of tubular flowers with prominent anthers, flowering in all shades of yellow, pink and red. Most gingers are warm climate plants and like a well drained soil enriched with compost with a monthly liquid feed during spring and summer. In the UK it is best to lift the plants and put the rhizomes in a large pot in a frost free place to overwinter. If this is not possible then protect the plants from cold winter winds by growing them beside a fence or wall, and further protect the roots from frost damage with straw mulch. If the foliage is burnt, leave it on the plant until all the frosts have passed because they will also help to protect them from frost. Once winter is over simply cut them down to the ground.