The cultivar ‘Variegata’ is a smaller, more compact plant featuring boldly, irregularly striped foliage. The species can grow up to 10 feet tall, but in gardens, and especially in northern areas where grown as an annual, they generally only get 3 or 4 feet tall. Variegated shell ginger is often grown as an annual in cool climates. Several dark green, lance-shaped leaves up to 2 feet long grow at intervals along the stems. The rhizomes produce stout, slightly arching stems with evergreen leaves. Plants grow in upright clumps from heavy, fleshy rhizomes that look (and smell) like that of culinary ginger ( Zingiber officinale). Variegated shell ginger is widely used as a tough landscape in mild climates.
It is winter hardy in zones 8-10, although it may survive in zone 7 with winter protection. This plant native to open woodlands of tropical eastern Asia is frequently used as an annual foliage plant in colder climates, with a variegated cultivar native to India the most common type available in the Midwest. Variegated shell ginger, Alpinia zerumbet ‘Variegata’.Īlpinia zerumbet is a tender herbaceous perennial in the ginger family (Zingiberaceae) grown throughout the world for its attractive flowers and foliage.
