Re: Strelitzia dead-heading

I seem to recall seeing old clumps of them getting the chainsaw treatment in some public gardens and coming back with great vigour from the bases. I presume you're referring to the stemless species, Strelitzia reginae and not the much taller S. nicolai.
I would assume that in nature they are fire-adapted plants with large food reserves in their below-ground organs and so can sprout rapidly after being defoliated. Also the inflorescence buds are initiated at or below soil level, so the next year's flowers should not be affected by defoliation. I recall seeing pictures of them in the wild in South Africa, in patches of grassland interspersed with scrub.
 
Tony Rodd
Sydney, Australia
 
----- Original Message -----
From: D*@kaiseral.com
To: m*@ucdavis.edu
Sent: Thursday, August 22, 2002 8:02 AM
Subject: Strelitzia dead-heading

So speaking of pruning, perhaps someone can clue me in on how I dead head
Bird-of Paradise?
Do you cut the entire flowering stem to the base of the plant or back to a
what
seem to be nodes? None of my books mention grooming at all other than
removal of
dead leaves...I had a gorgeous show this spring
but it is long over, so now what?

Deborah

Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index