Hedychium hybrid ‘Dr. Moy’ – This lovely hybrid was a chance variegated seedling produced by Dr. Moy, a plant breeder in San Antonio, Texas. It was first released as ‘Robusta’ which unfortunately is an invalid name for a cultivar. In addition there is a species, Hedychium robustum and such a cultivar name would be confusing. Latinized cultivar names are not accepted for this reason. With those issues in mind people began calling it simply ‘Dr. Moy.’ The naming history is worth mentioning so at the very least people do not assumed Dr. Moy named his own hybrid after himself.
‘Dr. Moy” was the first variegated Butterfly Ginger on the market, and other than its various sports there are only a few others in the world and none are widely available yet. Hedychium ‘Dr. Moy’ has a striping type variegation, long and small streaks of white make for an attractive garden subject. The numerous sports from this have much heavier variegation, but some prefer the more subtle look. ‘Dr Moy’ is claimed to have H. flavescens in its parentage, something I don’t tend to believe due to the fact that cultivated H. flavescens are sterile. A likely parentage is Hedychium cocciceum (Disney cultivar) and H coronarium. As a garden subject this hybrid excels for its upright habit and form. It is not demanding at all and can take a good bit of sun if well watered. The flowers are multi-colored with whites, oranges, and some yellow. Fragrance is not exceptionally strong but still nice. It is a medium size hybrid, usually never reaching above 6 feet, with 4-5.5 feet being typical range. Variegation is stable, but new shoots can have more variegation. With careful selection more strongly variegated cultivars can be made and this has been done by this traditional method as well as selection from tissue cultured stock. We offer ‘Dr. Moy Improved’ as well. Grows 4-5.5 feet in medium sun. Hardy in Zone 8 and above.