Rare Yellow Ginger Plant Blooms for the First Time at Kent Tourist Attraction.
A rare yellow plant, seldom cultivated in the UK, has bloomed for the first time at a popular tourist spot in Kent.
The plant, Hedychium wardii, is a yellow-flowering ginger that was brought to England from India in the 1930s by Frank Kingdon-Ward, a man often described as the “last great plant hunter.”
This significant bloom comes just in time for the Plant Hunters Weekend at the World Garden, located at Lullingstone Castle, which kicks off on Saturday.
Botanist Tom Hart Dyke, the owner of the garden, expressed his excitement, calling it a “fantastic ginger” with a “gorgeous scent at night.”
Mr. Hart Dyke established The World Garden in 2005 to showcase the plants he had gathered during his extensive travels across the globe.
Unlike its more common red and orange counterparts, the yellow ginger is an ornamental species not grown commercially, making it relatively unknown, according to a spokesperson for The World Garden.
Despite being introduced to the UK 90 years ago, Mr. Hart Dyke noted that “this ginger isn’t grown by many people, even though it’s a great plant. It flowers earlier than most and thrives in frosty conditions.”
The modern-day plant hunter revealed that he received the yellow ginger from a grower in Essex eight years ago, and this is the first time he has successfully managed to make it flower.