My mouth dropped when I first saw a photo of this exceptional new spiral ginger. There are several variegated Spiral Gingers in the world but patterned foliage is extremely rare. There are juvenile forms of Costus laevis with a silver midrib that later fades away. The only other is Costus mosaicus from Africa with its silver grid pattern. The biggest surprise was that this new form of Chamaecostus cuspidatus (formerly Costus cuspidatus) had been in limited cultivation in Brazil for many years. It was in the collection of the world famous Brazilian landscape architect Roberto Burle-Marx. How this species remained a secret for so long in the ginger world is a mystery. Fortunately not long after I saw the photo I was given a healthy pot of it and began to propagate it. I’m very happy to be able to offer this rare and beautiful Brazilian native. Samba is a very lively form of both music and dance that originated in Brazil as well.
The foliage of ‘Silver Samba’ has both a central silver stripe as well as a silver margin around the entire leaf. As if that was not enough, the leaves are solid maroon underneath! The foliage alone is enough to make this tops on any collector’s list but I’m not done. The flower are bright orange and up to 3 inches across. It is a dwarf species, easily grown in a 6″ pot. Wait..wait… still not done. It also makes bulbils along the stem especially close to the inflorescence. These can be stored and planted the next season, or left to drop if planted in the ground. This is a naturally deciduous species and the pots of rhizomes can be stored indoors for those in colder regions. It is hardy in Zone 9b for certain and may be hardy in Zone 8 as well but has not yet been tested. The rhizomes are very small compared to other spiral gingers so providing good drainage is very important if planting in the garden. It is mostly a shade plant but can handle some filtered sunlight as well.
Grows to 2′ in shade. Cold hardy in Zone 9b and above, possible zone 8.