If you’re building a tropical garden on a budget, costus should be at the top of your list. These spiralling gingers are among the best value plants available for the tropical and subtropical garden — fast to establish, generous with their flowering, and remarkably unfussy about conditions once they find their feet.

Costus fill space beautifully and do it quickly, building into lush, architectural clumps that look expensive and considered without costing a lot or demanding much in return. They work as mid-border fillers, screening plants, mass plantings and container specimens, and several produce excellent cut flowers as a bonus. Many flower for extended periods — some virtually year-round — providing consistent colour and nectar for birds and pollinators through seasons when other plants are between flushes.

What surprises many gardeners is how cold tolerant some costus are. Several varieties handle temperatures well into the subtropics, making them accessible to gardeners in coastal NSW and Queensland who might assume gingers are beyond them.

We grow a carefully selected range here at El Arish — from the reliable workhorse varieties that every tropical garden should have, to the rarer, more collectible forms that reward a closer look. Whatever your budget or garden size, there is a costus here worth growing.