Butterfly Ginger

 

Butterfly Ginger is another of the fragrant late summer plants. I have mine growing near the faucet as well as under the drip of the house so that they get as much water as possible. Mine get to be about 4/5 feet tall. If yours are not this big, it is probably a lack of water. They would prefer the bank of a pond or stream, but lacking that, give them as much water as you can. The 'cone' that produces the flowers just keeps on sending out new flowers for a long time. I like to cut them and place the stalks in deep water for the longest lasting arrasngement. Their fragrance is what really sets them apart.
Last year I had a dog that did ever imaginable crazy thing. For a long time every time I went outside (winter) I smelled a spicy odor that reminded me of sausage. Eventually I discovered the dog was digging up the corms of my butterfly ginger and chewing it. That created the odor. Even the roots are fragrant. I suppose that should not have surprised me as ginger is a food flavoring, but the edible one is not butterfly ginger. Maybe it is only because no one ever tried it, so what does that prove?