Hardy Plant Society

Look who is in our garden - Roscoea (Zingiberacae family)

Roscoeas are hardy perennials in the ginger family. The flowers are very exotic and rather “Orchid-like”. The genus is named after William Roscoe (1753-1831) of Liverpool, who was a lawyer and an opponent of the slave trade, historian, promoter of the arts and a founder of the Liverpool Botanic Garden in 1803. He wrote a magnificently illustrated monograph on the ginger family and Sir J.E. Smith named the genus in his honour.

Roscoeas seem to be very good natured plants. They have fleshy dahlia-like roots which should be planted quite deeply to protect them in a very bad winter, in moisture retentive soil in sun or partial shade. Although they like a humus rich soil they do not object to lime. Starting with R. cautleyoides and finishing with R. auriculata they will be in flower from late June to September. Quite rightly they are gaining in popularity and Plantfinder seems have more and more Roscoeas each year. The one point to remember is that they appear very late in May or even June so their position must be marked to ensure they are not accidentally disturbed. Bob Brown says that these late-appearers mix very well with the early disappearers such Aconitum anglicum. The main species are:

• Roscoea cautleyoides AGM. Comes from China, Yunnan and was introduced in 1912. June - July flowering, 18” high with pale yellow flowers. Roscoea cautleyoides ‘Kew Beauty’ and ‘Jeffrey Thomas’ are lovely selected cultivars.
• Roscoea purpurea. The plant comes from India and Nepal and has long been grown in gardens, being introduced in 1804. Flowering from July to September, 10 inches high varying in colour from purple to mauve, pink and white.
• Roscoea ‘Beesiana’ Arthur Kilpin Bulley was the founder of Bees Seeds and created the Ness gardens which are now the University of Liverpool’s botanic garden. He supported many of the famous plant collectors such as Frank Kingdon-Ward, George Forest E.K. Balls and Clarence Elliott. I think that this is one of the most exotic looking of all the Roscoeas. It is 20 inches high with pale yellow flowers streaked with purple.
• Roscoea humeana AGM comes from China and was introduced in 1916. This Roscoea was one of the plants named for members of the staff of Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh who died in the First World War. David Hume was a young gardener who fell at Mons. Summer flowering, 12” high with rich purple flowers.
• Roscoea alpina. This is a shorter plant with pale pink flowers. Flowering July-September.
• Roscoea scillifolia. This is another plant from the open slopes in Nepal. The flowers are so dark a purple they seem to be black.
• Roscoea auriculata - This comes from the open woodland or grassland of Sikkim, Nepal and Tibet. Introduced in 1912. Late summer flowering with vivid purple flowers 18” high. Flowering July to September.

Click on drawing to open a larger image (in new window)

Text by Jennifer Harmer, drawing by Sue Ward.

These articles were originally published in the HPS Journal.