ok echoes it is really a heliconia
have any of you grown them? are they sufficiently different from cannas to make it worthwhile finding them?
the first really nasty day and i'm planning tropicals for next year - silly woman. it was -27 on the correction line this morning just after sunrise but at least the wind is down to a manageabe 10k or so
love that really crunchy sound of the snow when it is this cold
first day off in 15 better make my house look like an responsible adult lives here instead of a colony of very large rodents
lobster claw plant
Lynn, any idea which species of Heliconia?
I did grow H. psittacorum (Parrot's beak) which is the smallest Heliconia around and it was easy to grow and bloom. H. bihai (Lobsterclaw) and H. rostrata (hanging Lobsterclaw) get a little to big for my taste and space :).
all i have is a picture in a book without the correct species id - the flowers on the bract (?) are yellow and red. Parrot would be a good name for it but i'm not sure. I have read that some are 18" to 2' and others get 10 -12 ' tall. Obviously have to read the packages carefully LOL
Check here for some great pics of many different species and cultivars
http://heliconiaparadise.com/heliconia_index.htm
Wow, that's a cool plant. I've never seen one of those before. I love tropical plants. The leaves look like cannas. Are they similar to grow?...outside for the summer them dig up and store for the winter?
Sandy
do you know of any canadian sources for these plants - assuming it is futile to try shipment out of germany
I don't know where to get them here in Canada. I found my H. psittacorum labeled as Lobsters Claw rostrata in a Garden Center.
I know that you can get seeds from Northern Oasis or places which have Raingardens seeds, but dunno how long those take to grow or how easy they are to grow.
Milan
thanks