Heliconia rostrata 22 bracts

[cagary]

The Heliconia rostrata in my greenhouse just produced an inflorescence with 22 bracts. A record for my plant, but they can produce up to 35!

I have one outside in a protected spot growing slowly that survived through the winter here in south Orange County, CA.

Any one else growing this Heliconia?

[epicure3]

Yes, and no. I have a clump growing in mostly shade in a cool spot as an experiment but its growth is anemic at best. It slowly disintegrates over the winter to shoot out a couple of pups in the summer. It will never flower. I am pretty sure that if I had the right spot in the yard available, I could get one to flower but....all spots are taken. Maybe I should put it on a waiting list. Yours looks beautiful.

[mnorell]

If you're growing these outside, I would suggest you get them out of the shade. Heliconias in general need the hottest, sunniest spot in the garden. Raise your bed, amend it with sharp sand, bark and fine-cut lava-rock and that will help warm the soil at night and give you drainage in the cold wet winter. You may get some burned leaves in the hot dry sun and during Santa Anas, but without that extra heat you may never get any blooms. I used to grow rostrata in L.A. and it also straggled along and eventually gave up the ghost. Now that I'm living in the deep south we of course have tons of heat and humidity and this species returns every spring even after hard freezes and grows very nicely into a large clump, but it must have heat and full sun to do so acceptably. In the shade it grows very little even here. Grow and position it as you would a coconut in southern California.

The only problem for all of us in cold-winter or frost-prone areas of the USA is that the typical rostrata cultivar sold in the U.S. market ('Peru' or '5-day') is seasonal in its flowering (a 2nd-season bloomer) and will probably never bloom if allowed to die down during the winter. All the more reason you need a sun-trap south-facing location, particularly in winter, so the stems don't abort in the long chilly season, even without frost...hence no blooms the following spring/summer. Also: protect this species from wind, it is particularly susceptible to tattering. A fellow in Culver City grows and blooms this species and says it flowers in july/august there but stems have to be second-year and at least six feet in order to bloom. Less and they won't do it, or will grow yet another season until they are at that height before spitting out a bloom.

[Justin]

My experience is similar to Epicure. It has survived three winters now, but its not getting any bigger, and its not blooming like the H. latispatha and H. champneiana nearby. Mine are on an east facing wall, so they get heat first thing in the morning, which may help during the winter.

[LauraAnu]

I am growing this here in the Caribbean and I can agree it needs second year growth to bloom. I had one bloom this year from a plant I put in the ground almost two years ago. I had to cut back most of the clump in Februaury to adjust some plumbing and so I hope to have some more blooms next year.

Laura

Edited October 18, 2009 by LauraAnu

[Matt in OC]

*BUMP* Any other Heliconia rostrata stories from So. Cal.? I saw a magnificent stand in a Seal Beach garden that was all bloomed out but didn't get a chance to snap a picture.

[EdInSanDiego]

I am growing it in San Diego but my plant is too young to say much about it yet. It faces west and gets some afternoon direct sun, and it got raggedy looking after this winter and strong winds, but the canes still seem alive and their youngest central leaves look perfect. So hopefully the canes don't die back. The plant has not been fast growing for me though, even in summer. But that could be because I barely fertilize it.

[Matt in OC]

Thanks for the info. I planted a rhizome in the fall and, well, that wasn't smart. I'll try again next month in a place that gets some good winter sun.