Two of the later flowering wild gingers are looking amazing this week. At top is the Alabama native Asarum speciosum ‘Bloodshot Eyes’, a 2020 Plant Delights/JLBG introduction of a 2011 collection in Autauga County, Alabama with larger than normal flowers. At the bottom is the Japanese native Asarum sakawanum var. stellatum with it’s starfish-like flowers that are white with a purple throat. Some folks still pretend that the US asarums belong to a different genus, Hexastylis, but that only makes sense if you pretend the Asian species don’t exist. If you stare at these long enough, you’ll catch the tiny pill bugs/rolly polly, as they pollinate the flowers.

