JERRY: What do bananas, birds of paradise,
heliconia, gingers and cannas all have in common?
They're all related.
They're in the botanical order Zingiberales.
Zingiberales is an order
consisting of several botanical families,
most of which occur naturally in the tropics.
And luckily for me,
there's a huge collection right here
in Brisbane's Roma Street Parklands.
Yeah, the rain really shows up the colour.
Paul Hoffmann is the horticultural operations manager.
What are the features of the Zingiberales
that make them so desirable to grow?
So things that they all have in common,
that you can pick out really quite easily,
are the large leaves, the really showy flowers
and the underground rhizomes.
Now, they look as if they have to grow in the tropics,
but they are a bit more adaptable to different climates.
They are. Some varieties will grow in the temperate climates
and give you that real tropical look,
even in Sydney or Melbourne garden.
Firstly, let's have a look at the Musaceae family.
The banana family has to be
the best-recognised group of Zingiberales.
They are the largest of the herbaceous plants on Earth.
They are. The fourth-largest crops in the world.
And so people know them -
having them on their cereal, having them for breakfast.
And just about everybody has eaten a banana.
They do make a great filler for your garden,
with the edible fruit, but also just the big leaves.
If you find a nice spot for them in your garden,
they actually create a really nice backdrop
to a lot of your other tropical plants.
You've just going to find that right zone for them,
so that they don't get high winds,
and you won't get all those shredded leaves,
which make them look a little bit untidy.
Next, the ever-popular Cannaceae family.
There's so many varieties available.
And they give you a great height in the garden,
and plenty of colour - from reds to yellows to oranges.
And they will flower all through summer to autumn.
One little tip I've found with growing cannas
is when an individual flower is finished,
if you just remove that, it will continue to bloom.
But if you remove the entire flower head,
that's the end of the bloom.
The Strelitziaceae family are particularly spectacular.
Now, the Strelitziaceae
would probably be the toughest member of the Zingiberales.
They are. And they can grow through a lot of the climatic zones,
right through to Melbourne and even Hobart.
The flower actually emerges and passes through and fans out.
So when the old flowers like this one comes,
you just pull that off.
So these are really long lasting.
They are. They will last a long time in the ground, or in a vase.
You just need to choose your location carefully.
Now, these plants do have a rhizome,
but they have a very tight base, don't they?
They do. And this is the regina.
So, it actually is a smaller, dwarf version
of its bigger brother, the nicolai,
which is a really large landscape feature,
and you need to really choose that location wisely.
Yes, I remember trying to transplant one,
and it's very difficult to get your spade out of the clump.
Once they're in the ground, they're very well rooted.
The ginger group within Zingiberales
includes Heliconiaceae, the heliconias,
Marantaceae, the prayer plants,
Costaceae, the spiral gingers,
and the largest family, the Zingiberaceae,
which are the true gingers and include beehive gingers.
Jerry, how spectacular are these beehive gingers?
This is one plant that puts a song into my heart every time I see it.
They're just great,
the way they flower from the top right the way down to the bottom.
You got such a long-lasting display.
People really love them.
They really invoke that real tropical look in your garden.
And they do make a great cut flower in a vase,
but they are quite heavy, so you need to get a strong vase.
They're full of liquid. There's a bit of rain and nectar in there.
There's an old Hawaiian story that
they actually used to use the nectar for shampoo.
So it would fragrance your hair at the same time.
It will. How lovely.
If there's one plant to advertise the Zingiberales, this is it.
It's one of the most showy, overstated flowers
in the ginger family.
And one of the things I love about this
is these little parts here, these floral bracts,
they're edible too.
They've got a peppery taste, and they go well in salad.
So it's absolutely a cracker in the garden.
But you can't just grow it anywhere, can you?
No. Really, you know, tropical/ subtropical.
Brisbane's south is probably at its limit.
But it has this amazing, you know, 1m- to 2m-high flower spike.
And the leaves! They're about 4m high.
I mean, it says tropical with a capital T.
Now, if there was one family in the Zingiberales
that can add glamour to a garden, it's got to be the Heliconiaceae.
That's right. And there's one for just about every part of the garden.
There's big. There's small. There's full sun. There's shade.
So they're really a spectacular plant in your garden.
I just love some of the structure that they produce,
like great fountains of foliage.
That one over there has got a beautiful red mid-rib.
And these are so cute.
You could actually grow them in pots.
You could.
They also make a great groundcover, and they actually will fill
that really sunny part of the garden en masse.
Now, these are one of your favourites, aren't they?
They are.
The Curcumas just really add a level of sophistication to your garden.
A lot of people will eat things like turmeric,
which is a version of Curcuma
But these are ornamental, predominantly, aren't they?
They are. But if you look closely,
they've got the bracts, which is a real showy part,
But the little flowers, they are edible.
For us in the subtropics,
they actually will die off in the winter time
and then give you that splash of colour again
when they pop up in spring.
One of my favourites would have to be the Curcuma australasica,
more known as the Cape York lily.
It's just spectacular.
It's found on Cape York Peninsula,
and is the only Australian native
of the hundred or more species of Curcumas
found throughout the world.
When it comes to caring for your Zingiberales,
Paul has some great tips.
They really love good, free-draining soil.
They really thrive on moisture and good fertiliser.
They are really hungry.
So with all that leaf growth that they're putting on,
and a lot of the flowers,
they really do like a good, slow-release fertiliser
through the growing season
and then taper that off in the winter.
After a couple of years, it's always good to split them up.
And you can divide some and space them out
and create a bigger clump, or a different spot in the garden,
just to give them space,
so they can really show off those really exuberant flowers.
So if you're in a warm, frost-free climate,
and need to add some zing to your garden,
then a selection of plants from the Zingiberales
would make the perfect choice.
They just make you feel like you're on holidays -
that tropical lush garden, the really showy flowers,
it gives you that real tropical feel to your own backyard.