I’m thinking my spring pinks are different from most everyone else’s?
After a fairly dry month the rain gods finally smiled on my garden and gave it a good, solid drenching. I think two inches of rain fell in a few hours. Some plants responded with flowers while the bromeliads are pushing out pups. Spring showers are inspirational and I suppose a little fertilizer increased the magic.
A close up of the Shell Ginger (Alpinia zerumbet). These are native to East Asia, I can only imagine the fantastic rainforest they are from. They are edible and have a wonderful gingery fragrance when trimmed. Culinary ginger is better for use in cooking, this is a bit thinner in flavor.
The Shell Ginger is actually a bit late this year, though I do associate it with spring. It sometimes flowers a few times a year. So, it is a bit unpredictable and actually multi-seasonal..sounding like a gardening marketing piece here. The Gingers with solid green foliage are a bit difficult to find but flower on a regular basis. Varigated Ginger is known to flower about once a decade.
This is a miniature ornamental pineapple. I am told they are edible and may be juiced. I think about 50 would be needed to make juicing worthwhile, so I just use mine in vases.They are so cute it is difficult to resist cutting them. A friend gave me a start of this plant some years ago, now there are many in the garden. The only downside – sharp everything.
We are meeting at Cathy’s blog again this Monday to share vases. Follow this link RamblingintheGarden to join in.
The Shrub Queen 
Lovely. The pinks are subdued. Wouldn’t like working around all the sharp things on the pineapple but it’s perfect for your vase. Shell Ginger has a great texture.
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That is a bummer about the variegated cultivar of that ginger, since it is the only one that I grow. (I ‘borrowed’ a bit from a colleague’s specimen.) I should find the unvariegated form while in the Los Angeles region. It is uncommon, even there, which sort of makes me wonder about its performance.
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I always think shell gingers look like beads, they’d make a pretty necklace!
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I have always enjoyed seeing the shell ginger when you have used it in a vase, but it never occurred to me that it might be edible – the root, I assume, like the usual culinary ginger? And your baby pineapples certainly are cute – shame about the prickles! Thank you for sharing your alternative spring vase – it’s lovely Amelia, and set off perfectly in the glass vase
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Thanks Cathy.. the roots can be used like culinary ginger but they just aren’t as good. The leaves are also used for wrapping things like fish while cooking. I have not tried it. I do enjoy cutting the plants back.
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The miniature pineapple is just so cute. We also got rain, the grass greened up and more flowers are blooming.
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Yay green grass…I actually love Bermuda and Zoysia..
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You can’t go wrong with shell ginger – it’s such an elegant plant! I love the tiny pineapples too. Two inches of rain is a LOT! We were graced with just 0.28/inch today.
https://krispgarden.blogspot.com/
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I agree..we had a series of storms and now back to dry windy..
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I was drawn straight away to those beautiful little pineapples with their blue flowers. Thanks for sharing this elegant tropical arrangement. Noelle
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Thanks Noelle.. blue flowering pineapple seems a bit weird??
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Certainly different to any pinks in my garden Amelia. How lovely to get a waft of ginger when cutting those flowers. And I agree that those tiny pineapples are cute. I don’t like the look of those pointed leaves, but they do look pretty in a vase. 😃
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Some of the things in my garden still seem weird to me. The pineapples are cute but scary. Worse than regular pineapple.
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Gorgeous as always, I‘m particularly intrigued by the tiny pineapples.
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Thanks, Annette. I enjoy the pineapples.
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Another beautiful arrangement! Your artistry, combined with the lovely cuttings and the tall, elegant vases make gorgeous statements. 🙂
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