Strelitzia reginae

Bird of Paradise

The most elegant, exotic, beautiful flower of all time ...

 

very nice Vicky.:gnthb:

I will have to wait another 2 months or so for mine.

 

Thanks MG ... I thought we had a thread for this ... must look again tomorrow and merge if there is one.

I've only got four stems ... don't think I'll have any doubles like you. Mine is definitely a miniature, quite sweet actually.

My S nicholai that got hit by the frost up on the deck has sent out three new shoots .... :yho: .... I live in hope for a flower.

 

Stop showing off Vicky:wink: :thmb:

They have to be amngst the most beautiful of flowers. Wish I had a conservatory to grow them properly here

 

:p Na nah, na nah .... Aaron ... pete grows them in Kent and has blooms ...

A bit of advice ... DO NOT ATTEMPT THEM FROM SEEDS ... they take a minimum of seven years to develop and bloom ... and I think pete will confirm this.

If you spend a fortune and buy a PLANT quite old ... and quite expensive ... you'll have the joy of this incredible plant ... which is what I would advise ....

Hey ... maybe you could buy this Cousin one for a wedding present ... :yho:

 

I bought three massive ones last year. They had say outside at the local garden centre for months, and they kept reducing the price ... I think I got all three for about 20 quid.

They have only been in a cold conservatory (I'll pull them against the house wall next Winter, rather than leave them against the glass Doh!) so I'll be interested to see if they flower.

 

Yeah...right! Tsk, we can't Ryanair don't allow plants on their flights. What a shame:hehe:

 

If they are still green Kristen I see no reason why they should not flower this year, if they were in flower last year.
They should have the flower stems coming up already, they come from the leaf axils of about two year old leaves I find.

I grew mine from seed many years ago and I will agree with Vicky, patience is really needed to do it that way.

 

Probably a bit dry Bob, but they do that anyway.

 

Evening Bob

Silly question if you know how old it is ....? They cna grow quickly leafwise but that doesn't mean they will flower .. and they won't until they are at least seven years old .. sad, but a fact!

My leaves are often curley and I think that is normal .... is it getting too hot? .... sweetheart you jest surely? :lollol:..... I must have a chat with mine tomorrow ..... :hehe:

They DO like lots of water and according to you guys over there lots of fertilizer .... I do water mine well but sorry I'm very negligent with all my plants when it comes to fertilizing .... slap hands, Vicky ... ouch!

I'm sure pete will come along now and tell you how to handle them in the UK .... as opposed to how I neglect them here ..... good luck xx

 

Lovely my Lady they are gorgeous,I think I have lost my Nicolai this winter, I have 3 grown from seed 4 years old couldn't keep them in the g/house this year they were in the p/tunnel but it got a bit to cold for them only one has a small green leaf but not hopefull about that.:( I knew there wasn't much chance of them flowering but I loved the enormous leaves(which do tend to have a curl in them)

 

No, it wasn't, Bob ... won't get to those temps till August at least .... :D

A little bee came to visit the BoP of the moment .... he's hidden himself in the blue bit in the first photo ...




.... but had quickly moved by the time I took the second photo ...






.... and another about to break free, probably in the morning ...




I just find them so incredibly fascinating.

 

Very fascinating Vicky, I especially like watching that first glimps of orange appear and suddenly the flower is out, usually the next morning as you say.

If you push down on either side of the blue bit yiou will find the sticky pollen.
Transfer this to the spike on the end of the blue bit of another flower and you'll get seeds.

That bee wont do the job for you, she's just stealing some the large amounts of nectar that tends to run down the flowers.

 

Beautiful pics Vicky.

How long do the flowers last?

 

Thank you, Aaron.

Here's the one opening this morning following a nice warm shower ....



It takes two/three months at least for the flowers to grow/develop but sadly only last about a month ... here at least, perhaps pete can confirm how long they last in your climate.