Flowery Shows but not in the Flower Show

A beautiful day in Minnesota and in the Conservatory.  As I walk through the Palm Dome, I immediately notice the beautiful flowering bromeliads. 
I’m always amazed at the beautiful uniqueness of the bomeliad flowers.  As I mentioned in my last blog, the Bromeliaceae (the bromeliads) are a family of monocot flowering plants native mainly to the tropical Americas. 

Pineapple

My favorite bromeliad in the Conservatory is the pineapple. In addition to being delicious to eat, it is the only bromeliad that produces a fruit that can be eaten, so it’s an economically important bromeliad.  Look at these photos of some of the Conservatory bromeliads.  The photos don’t do them justice, though - they are more beautiful and interesting in person! 

Red Ginger flower 

The ginger plants have some beautiful blooms.  The Conservatory has several ginger varieties to show visitors.  I see a very large beautiful red ginger (Alpinia purpurata) flower hanging over the koi pool.  The spiral ginger (Costus barbatus) has a multitude of flower heads in various stages of flowering.  The flower colors seem to change slightly over several hours due to the change in lighting from the sun’s angle. 

Spiral Ginger

Spiral Ginger

Not all gingers are created equally.  The typical store-bought ginger is Zingiber officinale the common ginger. It is used as a spice, medicine or even as a delicacy in some parts of the world.  Turmeric is also a ginger - (Curcuma longa) and can be found in the North Garden.  My favorite ginger in the Conservatory is the spiral ginger because of it’s beautiful flowers.

For more information (all websites Accessed September 16, 2013):

Bromeliad Plant Care Blog

http://www.bromeliads.info/archives/pineapple-bromeliad

Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden

http://www.htbg.com/search.php?family=Zingiberaceae