Heliconia schiedeana cold tolerance

[Phoenikakias]

I keep a potted specimen all year round outdoors.  Thing is that it keeps all stems green during winter up to mid summer, and as new growth pops up from the the rhizome, all stems of previous year, which had spent a winter,  die back.  But those one year old stems, until they  die, have already  stopped  growing further in the preceding spring- and summer time.  Thus  blooming of those barely one year old stems seems impossible. So my question is, whether winter cold kills the stems internally, while leaves and external tissues remain fresh. And further, whether planting in the ground may help the plant to keep old stems alive after winter.

[Motlife]

They're a high altitude species so I would've thought they'd have more trouble with your summers than your winters, as long as you keep frost off the leaves. They flower well locally.

Mine have done OK in pots for a couple of years with steady growth and minor frost damage on exposed leaves in winter, but no issue with the stems continuing to grow in the spring. I put it in the ground a few months ago and it's started growing way faster, so I'd recommend that if you have a spot to try it in the ground - they like plenty of food and water and it's easier to provide that in the ground.

I also have subulata and they seem to like much the same conditions, but they seem a bit slower than schiediana

[thyerr01]

My experience is that they really take off once in the ground and you can keep them consistently watered and fed much easier (as mentioned above). Mine also really need to get large before they flower and a pot of that size might be limiting.

[Than]

On 4/4/2026 at 4:06 AM, thyerr01 said:

My experience is that they really take off once in the ground and you can keep them consistently watered and fed much easier (as mentioned above). Mine also really need to get large before they flower and a pot of that size might be limiting.

My experience was the opposite. They were doing fine in pots, growing like crazy and not having any damage in winter or summer, provided they experienced no frost in winter and they were protected from the afternoon sun in the summer. Once in the ground though, they suffer from both, so I think they need to be under canopy.

They never bloomed but personally I am interested in the foliage so not an issue.