White Torch Ginger

Among the torch gingers, the white form holds a particular distinction. Where the reds and pinks announce themselves with tropical bravado, Etlingera elatior cv White Torch achieves something more refined — pure white flowers of almost waxy perfection, held against the freshest lime green foliage, clean and luminous in a way that stops the eye even from across the garden.

It is also, happily, one of the easiest torch gingers to grow. Vigorous and willing, it establishes readily and builds into an impressive clump that throws up flowering stems reliably through spring and summer. The tall, architectural canes reach up to five metres in ideal conditions, making this as much a structural plant as a flowering one — a living screen, a bold garden backdrop, or a statement specimen that earns its considerable footprint.

The flowers are exceptional as cut stems. Long-lasting and structurally perfect, they hold well in the vase and bring something to a floral arrangement that few other cut flowers can — that quality of looking simultaneously tropical and elegant, at home in everything from a loose garden-picked bunch to something considerably more considered.

Grow it in rich soil with generous moisture and a position in full sun to part shade. Torch gingers perform best in the true tropics and warm subtropics — they’re at their most vigorous north of the Tropic of Capricorn, though established plants will tolerate the occasional dip to around five degrees in a sheltered position. If you are in NSW below Byron you have no chance of growing these unless it’s in a hothouse.

For more info on growing Torch Gingers