Strelitzia

Hi. Is it usual to get a flower so early in the year?

 

Where are you located Mary and welcome to GC. Your location can assist folk in answering questions. I have several blooms now but I am in the South of Portugal.

 

I wouldn't say it was unusual being under cover, I think they probably bloom at any time of the year in the right conditions.

 

I’m on the Essex coast by Clacton. I’ve had the plant since 2009 when my mother passed away. It didn’t do anything for years, the times I nearly threw it away! it’s flowered the past two years, but never this early! I put it in the garden summertime then bring it under cover for the winter. I repotted it in September so maybe it’s just happy!

 

They take years for the first blooms. You have done well.

 

I have a 4 year old seedling that I hope to see flower one day!

 

I have grown them in the past from seed, the plant grew and I potted it on and it grew and grew and I kept potting it on with no flowers. After about a decade we moved house and it was stuck in the corner of the conservatory and neglected and............................it flowered. Seems like they need to be pot bound, mine mostly thrived better on neglect and flowered in the Spring and when I removed the flower spike one year it flowered again. Sadly it didn't survive being left in storage when we moved from England to Scotland, maybe too much neglect.

 

Thanks, @burnie, for sharing your experience with us. My plant was also potbound but it was pushing the compost out of the pot so I had to repot it. Anyway I had decided that this was it's last pot & I'm not repotting it any more. Besides we will have to move house as it won't fit in the kitchen or the balcony in a couple of years time! It has been repotted into a much bigger pot which will keep it happy for a few years.

 

We had a big enough conservatory for it, the plant was a bit on the scruffy side, but the flowers reminded us of a holiday in the Canaries.

 

My plant looks perfectly heathy & has already grown a new leaf this year! Every new leaf is like a new flower!