This beautiful foliage Curcuma belongs to the infamous branching rhizome group. It does have a lovely bloom, but those blooms are not as abundant as most other spring bloomers. So what do you do to compete with the big showy plume gingers? You have striking red stems that look amazing in the landscape, then people say “oh wow it even has a bloom too!” I had imported this before anyone else but took a long time to get it out. The folks at Gainesville Tree Farm also got a start of it and were the first to introduce it to the public. Their name of ‘Scarlet Fever’ was the first name used and fortunately is still the most commonly used one. Others have dubbed it Giant Red, Red Emperor and a host of other names. As a landscape plant this really shines in bright shade to full sun. It can reach 6 feet and is an easy one to grow. For added landscape appeal trim the lower leaves off once it gets tall to keep the red stems exposed. As with most other landscape type Curcuma, the foliage makes a good accent with cut flower arrangements.
Grows 5-7 feet in bright shade to full sun. Hardy in Zone 7