Re: Pam--Maxicrop

The orange-flowered bird [Strelitzia reginae, named for Queen Victoria] seems to bloom best in the "cool" season, when well fed, and when crowded. It does not bloom easily when small or young. But I think crowding is the key. Even when planted out, a big clump blooms from the center, not from the periphery. I do not have one of these myself, but we use a lot of them in landscapes--but never in sizes smaller than 7 gallon [about the size of your mother's friend's plant]. Occasionally a 7-gallon plant will bloom, but it's not a given.

The white-flowered bird [S. nicolai, named for Tsar Nicholas] seems to need to reach a certain age to bloom. I do have two of these, only one of which blooms. It blooms all year, and at the moment has about 10 flowers, all above the roof line of the house.

On Friday, May 28, 2004, at 10:36 PM, "" <gardenqueen@academicplanet.com> wrote:

Mother's friend Marge (not our Marge) has a 3 foot bird-of-paradise plant in a pot in her sunroom. It does get to go outside when it's really warm (July & August up there) then back to the sunroom. It gets lots of light according to mother but it has never bloomed. Can you think of anything special she needs to do to it to get it to bloom?

TIA

Pam Evans
Kemp, TX
zone 8A


Island Jim
Southwest Florida
Zone 10
27.0 N, 82.4 W

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