Lyons Growing Grocery Store Turmeric

Readers of my gardening column may recall my recent trip to an Asian grocery store in Austin to purchase some galangal and turmeric roots for my garden. After that column came out, Anita Lyons of Muldoon sent me a photo of a beautiful turmeric plant she is growing in a pot.

Lyons said she grew the turmeric from roots she purchased a H-E-B a few months ago when the store carried some roots for sale.

“I grow grocery store plants a lot,” Lyons said. “I currently have a number of papaya trees growing from seeds. They are about 18 inches tall and aren’t cold hardy so I will bring them inside if it gets cold.”

Lyons said she once grew a mango tree in Houston that was over 10 feet tall.

“But we had a surprise freeze and I lost him,” she said.

Congratulations, Anita, on growing some really cool tropical plants in our climate. If you manage to keep it alive over the winter, I bet you will have a beautiful plant next year. I hope to have the same success as you with my galangal and turmeric. I’m growing them for the roots, but the flowers of these plants are amazing as well.