“Dancing Girls”, a copyrighted post, was written for my WordPress blog called Always Growing by Jan in Covington, Louisiana
Don’t you just love the common names of some plants? They are so evocative. Names like Naked Ladies, Love in a Mist, Kiss Me Over the Garden Gate, and Dancing Girl Ginger (Globba schomburgkii). While at my sister’s house last Sunday enjoying the company of my family esp. my sister from Virginia, my oldest sister took me around to see her Dancing Girl ginger. It was in bloom and so gorgeous. She was excited because she almost lost them during the winter. Hers is Globba winitii.
Aren’t these lovely? They are hardy to zone 8 but will go dormant when night time temperatures consistently fall below 60 degrees. They can be grown in containers in colder areas. They need partial shade and moist soil.
These unusual and showy flowers really add to a border in the late summer – fall.
Always Growing 
nancybond said,
October 24, 2008 at 8:23 pm
They certainly are lovely — what pretty blooms.
deb said,
October 24, 2008 at 10:33 pm
I just started collecting gingers this year. Now I have another to add to my wish list. Very pretty.
Curtis said,
October 24, 2008 at 11:26 pm
Can’t grow them in my area. But they look like fireworks.
Randy said,
October 25, 2008 at 5:19 am
Jan we had 9 or 10 different types of ginger at one point. We have three volunteers coming up now, that were deposited by the dozer in a new home. I don’t know what they are and they haven’t bloomed. Your sister’s is a lovely and very unusual plant that I have never seen before.
Jan said,
October 25, 2008 at 6:23 am
Nancy, they are very pretty esp when you see the whole plant with flowers all over.
Deb, I, too, have many gingers but not this one, yet. I am thinking I’ll have to ask my sister for a piece of hers. I really like plants that bloom into the fall when so many other plants have stopped blooming or are getting ready to go dormant.
Curtis, these can be grown in containers as well as in the ground. Just a thought if you have a place to overwinter it. They do look like bursting fireworks, what a clever way of looking at them.
Randy, it is amazing that you are still seeing the effects of that tornado. At least the gingers were not lost completely. There are several other varieties of dancing girl gingers that are just as nice as this one. I love gingers for the tropical feel they bring to a garden.
Brenda Kula said,
October 25, 2008 at 7:01 am
It just makes me smile when I think of the old-time flowers such as hollyhock, black-eyed susan, foxglove, coneflower… So much so that I recently purchased all of the above! And I also have a ginger. What a sweet name!
Brenda
Racquel said,
October 25, 2008 at 3:53 pm
They are very lovely and I love the name too. 🙂
Jan said,
October 25, 2008 at 5:21 pm
Brenda, I like the old-fashioned plants, too. I can’t wait to see how they do in your garden.
Racquel, these gingers do have a name that sounds so exotic.
Nancy Z said,
September 21, 2009 at 11:06 am
Just so everyone will know, these can be propogated by rooting them in water. It takes about 3 months for the roots to appear and then my girl went dancing and four had babies sprouting from the her stem. I planted them outside in pots in early summer and now the babies have grown and are blooming.
Jan said,
September 21, 2009 at 3:23 pm
This is good to know, Nancy.