Forum home› Plants
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

Strelitzia (Bird of Paradise)

Heather BathardHeather Bathard Posts: 5
in Plants
I would like some advice with regard to my Strelitzia which I have had for around three years.   Last year it was getting too big and outgrowing the pot , so I split it into three separate plants.  My question to you all is should the leaves be as big as they are as I have seen other Strelitzias where the leaves are a lot slimmer.  Mine looks more like banana leaves.  Can someone put my mind at ease that I have got the correct plant!!


Posts

  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    The leaves on my strelitzia are big and quite pointy and very firm, almost leathery.  The underside is a glaucous blue.

    Yours look much softer and greener altho the way the grow out of their stems is similar.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • PlantmindedPlantminded Posts: 3,580
    That looks like Strelitzia nicolai, commonly known as wild banana, hence the similarity in the leaves that you have noticed.  They do grow quickly if given the right conditions.  Mine got too big for the room I had it in and has now been replaced with a palm.  They are often sold in groups of two or three plants crammed into one pot to look bigger.  You have done the right thing splitting it to give the plants more space, but they’ll get big!
    Wirral. Sandy, free draining soil.


  • Heather BathardHeather Bathard Posts: 5
    Thank you, that has helped but I now don’t think I’m likely to get any of those beautiful flowers!!
  • LilyWLilyW Posts: 41
    Will that grow in a Cold greenhouse do you think? I have always wanted one.
  • Heather BathardHeather Bathard Posts: 5
    I don't think so, as I made the mistake some years ago and it got frosted.  I leave mine outside in the summer but bring it into the house in the winter.  My dining room is like a jungle!!
  • PlantmindedPlantminded Posts: 3,580
    Heather Bathard said:
    Thank you, that has helped but I now don’t think I’m likely to get any of those beautiful flowers!!
    You may do if you keep it outdoors in the summer and we get some heat!  The flowers are white and still very impressive.  
    Wirral. Sandy, free draining soil.


  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    Mine is strelitzia reginae and, like yours, is not hardy.  They don't like to get below 10C really so I bring mine indoors once the nights get that cold and keep it in a sunny window.  We had 4 large flower stalks all winter and I've just pruned them off and 2 more are forming.

    Mine will go outside again once night temps are reliably 10C+ and it will sit against the south facing front wall of our house so full sun and heat.

    This info may help you with yours -
    https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/82161/i-strelitzia-nicolai-i/details 
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • InglezinhoInglezinho Posts: 568
    Strelitzia is a a very popular park and garden plant here in Brazil, though it originates from South Africa. It is also known as false banana as the blue and yellow flowers are very banana-like.
    Yours looks very much like the ones here, so you are doing a lot right. It is said to flower best when pot-bound, though mine is outdoors in the garden.
    To get it to flower in UK is a challenge as it needs plenty of hot sunshine. Good luck!
    Everyone likes butterflies. Nobody likes caterpillars.
Sign In or Register to comment.