GENUS GLOBBA
Globba's flowers are beautiful pendant frilly things that are often called "Dancing Ladies" or "Dancing Girl" gingers. I really don't see dancing ladies when I look at them myself, but certainly they are as beautiful. The colors range from white to golden yellow to purple. They are also amazingly long-lasting as cut flowers. I have had them last in a vase as long as 6 weeks before they started looking really ratty.
Globbas are short plants, mostly 2 to 3 feet high, and they all like shady conditions. The foliage is upright but somewhat floppy, and is not the main attraction on this ginger. The popular garden types are all hardy to zone 8, but they will go dormant in winter and are among the last of the gingers to break dormancy in the spring.
Globbas do not increase as rapidly from their rhizomes as most other gingers, but fortunately most form little bulbils and will self seed.
