Sunday Phlog: More cinnamon, please?
Yeah, I have to show off more of the Roscoea ‘Cinnamon Stick’, it’s tooooo beautiful…
Roscoea purpurea ‘Cinnamon Stick’
The first species to flower is also one of the most cultivated – Roscoea cautleoides. Typically it has pale yellow flowers, but there are also forms with pink flowers.
Roscoea cautleoides
Roscoea cautleoides ‘Jeffrey Thomas’ – flowers with an enlarged labellum, primrose yellow and the hood with a deeper yellow
Roscoea auriculata – native of Nepal, Sikkim and Xizang, has large flowers usually deep violet or purple and consistently auriculate (eared) leaves on the pseudostem. It is sometimes confused with R. purpurea, however it flowers earlier and it has white staminodes and a strongly downward-facing labellum.
Roscoea auriculata
Roscoea auriculata – group photo
Grown from a batch of seedlings supposedly of R. cautleoides, it was a very pleasant surprise for us to discover that we have a new species in cultivation: Roscoea scillifolia f. atropurpurea. This one seems to be rare not only in cultivation but in the wild too, so it is fair to say that we just got lucky!
Roscoea scillifolia – f. atropurpurea, with small flowers of almost black colour
Indeed that Cinnamon Stick is a beauty! I love the bicoloured flowers! I think my heart belongs to R. cautleoides – Kew Beauty in particular! I think this genus is now one of the most represented in my garden, which is an accomplishment for one who usually only buys single genera specimens due to the obvious lack of space. It was wonderful seeing you this morning! The new kids are all settled into their new homes!
No wonder given your penchant towards yellow (and BLUE) colours. I couldn’t resist to the cinnamon myself; it looks great together with the Hakonechloa macra ‘All Gold’. Difficult to stay away from plants even in your days off, isn’t it? I know how it is, too hard to breathe!