Siam Tulips

Now that we appear to be fully into the rainy season here in south Florida, it is time to plant summer flowers. It is hard to find reliable flowers for the summer time down here. One that I have only become aware of here in the last few years is Curcuma or Siam Tulips. About three or four years ago I started seeing them in a few of the stores. They were the pink variety that you see in the top picture here. They were pretty but I was dubious about their long term survival in south Florida. But after trying a few, I am really impressed. The flowers lasted for weeks and they kept blooming all summer. Best of all, after turning yellow and dying off in the cold weather, they came back up from the roots the next spring and started blooming again! There are a lot of perennials that do that up north, but its rare in south Florida. They are now blooming for the fourth year with very little attention.

Last year I started seeing more colors and varieties of curcuma appearing in the garden centers. Some are quite bizarre looking like the white one pictured here. They seem to do best in moist soil with partial shade.

The genus Curcuma contains about 80 species of the plant family Zingiberaceae. The popular spice Turmeric is a member of this genus.

They are easy to grow and so far I haven't had any insect or fungus problems with them. Try some in your garden this year. I think you will really like them.