Heliconia zebrina 'Inca'

[realarch]

I had a moment of weakness and my eye wandered from palms to this Heliconia. The local Nurseryman's sale is this weekend here

in Hilo and we dragged this one home.

Not a lot of info on this heliconia and I'm assuming it needs some shade, anybody had experience with this one?

Tim

[Laisla87]

I thought it was a calathea until i saw the flowers. how odd

[tropicbreeze]

It does look like a cross with a Calathea.

[Kennybenjamin]

That's a great looking heliconia,!! I can understand your moment of weakness..... I would have weakened at the sight of that too!!

[ariscott]

Very sensitive here... hard to grow for us. But for you Tim, it might be ok. Here, I wouldn't put it in full sun. It doesn't get big, probably it doesn't get much bigger than that. They grow in Cairns quite easily, I think. Good find!!!

Regards, Ari

[kwtimo]

that thing is bad ass! wow, now I am going to be on a mission to find a rhizome to buy somewhere. lucky you!

[Really full garden]

That is just too spectacular!!!! I have to have one too.

[LJG]

Wow cool.

[rick]

wow! another one to add to the wish list

[colin Peters]

That is just far out. wow Never seen anything like it

enjoy

[Geoff]

That has got to be one of the most beautiful Heliconias, if not simply tropical plants, I have seen.. .nice!!

[Hammer]

Unreal! And of course this plant is far too nice to grow in Southern California I would have to assume.

[ariscott]

yep.... ultra tropical....

[Drg]

Yeah info on this one is pretty thin on the ground. I have one of these growing in Brisbane, Australia. I bought it originally off a lady in Cairns. Was a bit expensive due to it's rare nature. Judging by that image that is about as big as they get. She had hers growing in a green house which had a creek flowing through it. The plant was planted on the bank which lead into the creek, so it had excellent drainage but quite a moist environment. They love shade and humidity (I don't think heat is such a big issue from the research I have done), I tend to mist mine every other day. I've had the plant for 2 years, and the only time it's had new shoots is after a week or 2 of heavy rain. It survived pretty much for the whole of winter but then died back at the very tail end of winter. I was a bit concerned that I had lost it, as there were no new shoots this summer. But I dug it up the rhizome late summer and was happy to see some new shoots coming off the rhizome. It's now happily growing in a pot. But yeah I have never seen one for sale since, not even on the net. A few people refuse to believe it's a heliconia but it is! But that is a great specimen!

[Cindy Adair]

Tim, If the nursery that sold your plant has others and is interested in shipping rhizomes or seeds, I think many of us would be willing customers!

Even the expert grower I bought my farm from doesn't have one of these.

Really, really nice.

[realarch]

Thanks for all the input and welcome Drg, I noticed it was your first post. A greenhouse with a creek running through it? Wow, that sounds pretty sweet.

I figured it took some shade, but wasn't sure just how much. The plant is going to be divided and planted in a couple of different spots to see which

is the best.

Cindy, I think this was a Novelty Green's specimen, but not sure since Bob snagged it. There were six of them for sale and they were all gone within

10 minutes after the doors opened. That's why we always get there early and brave standing in line. You never know.

Tim

[Drg]

Thanks for the welcome Tim.

[Cindy Adair]

Thanks for all the input and welcome Drg, I noticed it was your first post. A greenhouse with a creek running through it? Wow, that sounds pretty sweet.

I figured it took some shade, but wasn't sure just how much. The plant is going to be divided and planted in a couple of different spots to see which

is the best.

Cindy, I think this was a Novelty Green's specimen, but not sure since Bob snagged it. There were six of them for sale and they were all gone within

10 minutes after the doors opened. That's why we always get there early and brave standing in line. You never know.

Tim

I was guessing it came from that nursery just because of the plants they used to sell on ebay. Small world! I still have their name listed on my ebay watch list hoping they'll decide to go that route again. Well worth standing in line to find such a plant!

[Kim]

What a great addition to your garden, Tim! I hope it grows well for you. Your garden is at the perfect stage to place such a showpiece where it can be easily viewed and admired. I hope one day my garden will achieve that intimate feel, too. (Grow, palms, grow!)

[colin Peters]

I did some checking and an outfit in Hilo, plantgrouphawaii.com, is supposed to be having rhizomes soon. I plan

on getting on the list, and they ship.

aloha

[realarch]

Kim, I have no doubt you will achieve the garden you want. Plus, you have the land to have both intimate and expansive plantings.

Of course living here full time also helps. Oh, by the way, WELCOME BACK!

Colin, Plant Group Hawaii, is such a great local resource and it's practically in Hilo. The heliconia, curcuma, and kaempferia I've gotten

from them have been top notch. The specimens are clean, pruned perfectly, fumigated, and ready to plant.

[Cindy Adair]

Tim and Colin,

Thanks for helping me discover and order this lovely plant! Thanks to you and Palmtalk, my neighbor (and former owner of our farm) will split an order from Plantgrouphawaii and get 2 rhizomes each.

It's great when a brand new addition to my wish list can be found so quickly.

[Peter Pacific]

Tim, that is a gorgeous heliconia! I hope I can still order them myself. What a score!

Peter

[empireo22]

if burnt from a frost, would this plant and other heliconias come back from the rhizome?

[Jeff Searle]

That's really impossible to answer. With so many unknown factors involved, who knows.

[ariscott]

if burnt from a frost, would this plant and other heliconias come back from the rhizome?

Well, when I lost mine.... due to reason unknown.... it didn't come back from rhizome, even though the rhizome looks ok. So, my guess would be 'no'. As I said, it seemed to be very touchy and very tropical (I am in the tropics - 12deg South). So, I don't think frost will be very kind to it.

Edited May 9, 2013 by ariscott

[Matt in OC]

Bump. Any experience with this or hope for SoCal?

[Jupiter1]

I have these growing in 1 and 3 gal containers here in Palmbay Fl. They do require shade and the leaves will curl as they dry out. I've had them die down and come back from the same rhizome. If you can keep them shaded and damp I'm confident that they would grow well. 

[metalfan]

According to the Berry and Kress 'Heliconia, an Identification Guide' (I have had this for so many years LOL), Inca is native to Peru but cultivated in Florida, Hawaii and Costa Rica. It gets 2-4 feet and requires 20-70% shade. So gorgeous! Only ever seen photos never a real one

 

[Mangosteen]

Mine does well in the shade 7 miles north of Hilo in Pepeekeo.

[Missi]

*Bump* Can we get more updates on people in FL growing this plant? I may have to track down a rhizome or two 

[Cindy Adair]

My rhizome from HI is fine in full shade. I added another that I got from TPIE (big trade show in Januarary in Ft. Lauderdale FL) and tried this second one in more sun in PR. 

It sulked and only looked OK for a few hours after each rain. I finally got around to moving it to shade and it is clearly much happier. I think you will be able to find this plant now in FL pretty easily.

[paquicuba]

My experience here in South Florida is that they don't like direct sun or full shade. They do need very bright light and lots of water in order to grow. 

[paquicuba]

Here is mine, which is getting some direct sunlight, since I lost some canopy due to hurricane Irma. 

[metalfan]

How often do they bloom?

 

[paquicuba]

2 hours ago, metalfan said:

How often do they bloom?

 

Mine hasn't bloomed yet. It has been in the ground for a year and a half now. 

[Palm crazy]

On 4/27/2013, 1:14:23, realarch said:

I had a moment of weakness and my eye wandered from palms to this Heliconia. The local Nurseryman's sale is this weekend here

in Hilo and we dragged this one home.

Not a lot of info on this heliconia and I'm assuming it needs some shade, anybody had experience with this one?

 

 

 

 

Tim

This plant is the Bomb! Wish I could grow it, thanks for posting pics. 

[magibbs]

I bought one of these beautiful Heliconia zebrina "Inca" at the Ramble at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in early November. Price was very reasonable. I got it from

JG's Tropical Plants
 Plants@jgstropicalplants
 (772) 532-6648

He probably has more. I live in Miami and have planted it in a rainforest garden bed where it is shady and I will make sure to keep it watered. 

Good luck!

[metalfan]

I have 3 in one gallon containers. They were grown by a lady from seed. They have done really well so far, I am going to let them get size on then up the container size. I have them in the greenhouse and have been keeping them well watered in dappled shade.

[tropicbreeze]

While drooling over the photos I couldn't help notice that the leaves in some of the photos aren't the same. In the original photo the leaf tips are obtuse whereas in some of the later photos they're acute. I suspect the acute ones might be Calatheas. A lot of Heliconias have acute leaves but could H. zebrina be that variable in leaf shape?

Searching online, photos from a Hawaiian supplier show identical leaves to the first photos in this thread - obtuse leaves. Photos from elsewhere look like Calatheas - acute leaves. Has anyone looked into whether there's been any misidentification?