Giant Bird of Paradise (Strelitzia nicolai)

Lupine, that looks like Strelitzia reginae... :}

Evert, this is from a bouquet, and the florist assured me it was the nicolai species! I asked! Honest! :) If it is misidentified, I am sure Dave can work his magic and change it over? Anyone know for sure?

I am sure it isn't nicolai ;) Nicolai is black/white in colour. :]

I think I found the grower of this plant, I talked to him, and they come in many different colors and shapes. I described the bloom to him, and he said it was probably one of his. He confirmed it to be S. nicolai, but without seeing it, he can't be certain. In greenhouses, the plant grows to about 6-8' tall, take 5-8 years to flower. The blooms can be 4"-18" long. He grows about 40 different cultivars, I bought a new plant from him that will have blue and white flowers. I can't wait!

seems like the nicolai ive seen have the broad leaves and the reginae that ive seen have the narrow leaves. is this a good way to destinguish? ive bought my own bird of paradise that is supposed to have blue and white flowers and it has the broad leaves that ive seen on some nicolai, but its described as "strelitzia reginae white", growing only to 6 ft (its three feet tall now. no idea as to when it will flower). the only info i have been able to find describes "white strelitzia nicolai's" or "giant white bird of paradise", also a nicolai's. ?

Strelitzia nicolay is a rather large plant. Some of them even ressemble the big Ravenallas (Travelers´ Palm), with big leaves and a somewhat woody trunk. S. reginae never gets that large, being actually quite a modestly sized plant, never growing taller than my hips, with rubbery narrow leaves.

The bloom of S. nicolai is much larger than S. reginae, with black/dark bracts and white flowers (and S. reginae has the same exact shape and colors of that picture).

Monocromatico -- then mine must be a reginae and not a young nicolai. i couldnt find "strelitzia reginae white" listed on plantsdatabase or through google to find out more specifics about light/water/what exactly was ment by "heavy feeder";npk,frequency, etc/does it need to be at mature Height to bloom. anyone know about this specific plant or is it the same requirements as any other s. strelitzia even though it has a different form from the pictures in this database,etc(broader leaf more resembling the banana but shorter: avg. leaf is 11in wide x 13in long) ? "never growing taller than my hips" -- the tag that came with the plant said 6ft: your pretty tall (-: i'd post this on the regular forum because its starting to get off subject from the above picture, but more questions were promted and i wanted to make sure to get your opinion on it.