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The very first blossoms on our white butterfly ginger lilies opened yesterday morning.
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Their fragrance is indescribably sweet. With pure white flowers over a long season, they are one of the flowers we love most as summer slowly melts into fall.
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Our patch of ginger lily has grown a bit shaded over the years, and I see them leaning out for the sun. By October they will be at least a foot taller, and covered in white flowers.
The hummingbirds love ginger lily flowers, too, and we’ve even seen hummingbirds feeding on them at dusk.
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These elegant perennials are one of the few ginger plants hardy this far north. Hedychium coronarium grows in zones 11-7b, so we are right on the northern edge of their range. Last winter was hard on them, and they were slow to return this summer. In a good year, and in good sun, they can grow to 7′ high.
We are happy to see them coming into bloom now, and look forward to weeks of their beauty.
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Also blooming for the first time today is the red spider lily, Lycoris radiata. After last night’s heavy rains, we expect to find many more stems emerging over the next few days. These bulbs wait for a good soaking to finally bloom in late August or September, often after a spell of hot, dry weather. Which is how they earn their other common name, hurricane lily, when they suddenly appear after a big storm .
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It is always interesting to watch the garden unfold day by day and week by week. It is always changing, and there is always something to look forward to as the seasons come and go.
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Woodland Gnome 2018
Fabulous Friday:
Happiness is Contagious; Let’s Infect One Another
Forest Garden 
Oh, that is so excellent. I brought back a few gingers from the Los Angeles region, but only a few do well here. (Some do very well.) I brought back a small bit of only one white ginger that looked something like yours, but it was a tropical species that did not tolerate even the mild frost here.
Such lovely flowers