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Tropical Flowering Plants
You Can Propagate From Cuttings
By ROBYN HUNT
Ginger
There are over 1,600 species in the ginger family, including turmeric and galangal, and it's quite easy to propagate them. Just find a thumb of ginger that has nodes on it, cut the piece into ½-inch slices with a node on each, bury them in well-draining soil, and after a week or two, you'll see a little green sprout.
Red Torch Ginger
Red torch ginger can grow to be 17 feet or taller and isn't suitable for container gardening, so bear that in mind when making your cuttings. Remove a node, dust it with fungicide, and plant it 2 inches deep in potting soil; remember this variant likes temperatures above 50 degrees Fahrenheit, limited wind, and partial shade to full sun.
Hawaiian Blue Ginger
To make a Hawaiian blue ginger offspring, cut the tips of the stems, leaving three leaves at the top of each cutting, roll the bottom in hormone powder, and plant it in a well-draining substrate. Make sure it's watered, seal it inside a plastic bag, and keep it in a partially or fully shaded area; it should show signs of growth in about six weeks.
Plumeria
Once you've got a piece of plumeria, leave it out of the sun so it can callus over but not dry out; it can grow in soil or water, but make sure you add fertilizer or root growth hormone so that it grows big and strong. If you get any sap on your hand, wash them thoroughly, as it can be poisonous if ingested.
Canna Lily
Canna lilies come in all different rainbow hues, from pink to salmon, red to orange, yellow, purple, and blue, and are the main food source for the larvae of the Brazilian Skipper butterfly. They are rhizomes, so you just need to break apart the tubers, transplant one of the "bulbs" into a 4-inch pot, and keep them in an area that's in full sun.