Known as Griffith's Butterfly Ginger, this is a medium-sized ginger originally from the Himalayas. It produces lush foliage and sweetly scented spikes comprising delicate-looking white flowers with salmon-pink filaments and anthers. The flower fragrance is delicate, and at its strongest in the warmth of late afternoon. It is one of the most beautiful of any Hedychium. A small species, with slender stems, it is very easy to grow and flower and, like its siblings, it requires a long, warm, growing season to give its best show!

Grow Hedychium griffithianum in a fertile soil, or multipurpose compost, and feed it frequently during the growing season to promote growth. Make sure, too, that it gets plenty of water to maintain its lush growth. Flowers appear during July and August. It’s one of the best reliable blooming gingers for cooler summer climates.

Hedychiums, which come from many parts of Asia, are relatives of the root ginger. Often grown by enthusiasts of exotic-style planting, they have luxuriant foliage and fantastic tropical-like flowers. They make excellent conservatory plants too.