page_title: Roscoea
section_title: Cultivation
hierarchical_section_title: Roscoea / Cultivation
caption_attribution_description: English: A collection of Roscoea species and hybrids, growing in the garden of Roland Bream, UK National Collection Holder, "Stevenshill", Harnage, Shropshire
context_page_description: Roscoea is a genus of perennial plants of the family Zingiberaceae. Most members of the family are tropical, whereas Roscoea species are native to mountainous regions of the Himalayas, China and its southern neighbours. Roscoea flowers superficially resemble orchids, although they are not related. The flowers of Roscoea have a complicated structure, in which some of the showy coloured parts are not formed by petals, but by staminodes, sterile stamens which have evolved to become like petals. Some species are grown as ornamental plants in gardens.
context_section_description: Some Roscoea species and cultivars are grown in gardens, particularly rock gardens, as ornamental plants. Coming from monsoon regions, they require moisture in the summer but relatively dry conditions in winter.  A moisture-retaining but well-drained soil is recommended, with a mulch of a material such as bark. They vary in their tolerance of sun exposure, most requiring shade for at least part of the day. In a Royal Horticultural Society trial, R. ganeshensis and R. purpurea f. rubra were the most harmed by too much sun; R. cautleyoides, R. × beesiana and R. scillifolia the most resistant. In cultivation they do not appear above ground until late spring or even early summer; thus if planted deeply enough, up to 15 cm (6 in), they escape frost damage in regions where subzero temperatures occur. Different species and cultivars then flower throughout late spring and summer into early autumn.
  They can be propagated by careful division in the autumn of the individual growth points produced by a large plant, or by seed. Seed should not be allowed to dry out. If sown immediately it is ripe, it will normally germinate in the following summer. Young plants should be potted on before the tuberous roots become too intertwined.
caption: Roscoeas in cultivation
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