The Ginger Festival

Today we went to the Ginger Factory at Yandina - about an hours drive up the road. It was their annual Flower and Food Festival. Ginger plants, ginger recipes, cooking demonstrations and gardening talks.

I did not buy one ginger plant.

As we walked into the main cafeteria we were greeted by this enormous floral arrangement featuring beehive and torch gingers as well as various heliconia and other flowers. (This is just the lower half)

Heliconias (my favourite flower) made up the upper half

To get an idea of scale, you can see it was twice the height of a person.

 

There's an extensive garden shaded by large trees. The ideal growing conditions for gingers and other tropical plants.

Love this combination

 

This was the view from where we sat to eat lunch.

 

They sell all manner of ginger products - cosmetics, candles, etc, jams and sauces and chocolate coated ginger (some of that came home with us)

I didn't buy any ginger plants because they need more shelter than we can provide yet. Heliconias, on the other hand, don't mind full sun and when they grow tall will help provide shade for the ginger plants I might buy next year.

I did buy a few heliconias

 

and

they're already in the ground.