Globba winitii
Photo: Globba winitii - Wikimedia Commons

Like all true gingers, the mauve dancing girl, Globba winitii, is an herbaceous perennial with a rhizomatous root system.

They can be grown from seed or by division of rhizomes and they prefer full to partial shade. Globbas do best in fertile, loose, moist soils. When day lengths shorten in October and temperatures cool, plants quit growing and die back. However, rhizomes remain viable during cold months until soil temperatures increase in spring and growth resumes. Blooming takes place May through July in warm places where temperatures are above 80°F or so. In its natural habitat of southeast Asia, its growth cycle is dependent on the monsoon season; it goes dormant during the dry season, October through May, and bursts into new growth when rains come.