Dear All-
A fellow DGer and friend is giving up his collection of heliconia and his garden for awhile. Very sad, but he thinks it's best for him to do so. He has generously offered to ship me plants for postage.
Honestly I will keep a few, but I have enough tropicals to overwinter with all my EE.
So...the question is...are there people out there who are interested in heliconia?
I will post his list of heliconia as soon as I have it.
ROX
Heliconia
Lucky for you, who doesn't love them? They are beautiful. I would think a lot of people would be interested in Heliconia.
Oh Oh Roxanne
Id be happy to give some of them a good home in Key West. Just let me know when
Neil
I would give some of them a good home....but I hate the idea that it's because this person has to give up his garden. It seems so sad. Sandi
Dear All-
Thanks for your response. I'll tell my friend that there are plenty of people willing to adopt the heliconia.
I'll have to figure out a fair exchange. I may have to charge a little extra postage or ask for plants and postage to cover the cost of my postage to bring them here and to ship them out again. Hope that's OK.
ROX
That sounds fair to me. LMK what you are looking for. As I said before we had our 1st frost last night and I haven't even been outside to see what is mush yet.
OK. This is the tentative list. Due to their size, he is going to ship them to me bareroot. I will post again the end of next week when I actually receive them. Note, I have never had these before so any shipping/care info would be appreciated!
I am not trying to create a feeding frenzy based on false pretenses. I am warning everyone that something may go wrong and they might not be available as planned, but I really want to gauge interest because I need to prioritize what he should send since I can only afford so much for shipping.
ROX
PS In return I would like the person to pay for shipment to themselves from Ohio (me) plus (1) a trade for some rarer elephant ear or (2) an additional $1-2 SASBE per plant (the exact amount to be determined from the shipping price to ship them from my friend to me).
Heliconia Angusta Red Christmas (3)
Heliconia Angusta Yellow Christmas (6), but some may be Heliconia Rostrata
Heliconia Arawak
H. Golden Torch
H. Rostrata, Andromeda
H. Lady Di
H. Distans
Rox
I dont have anything to trade right now so if you can get some cool EEs in the process by almeans put me at the bottom of the list , Ill be happy to pay for shipping etc if you have anything left.
Neil
I would be very interested in some as well. Most of what I have to trade are tropical fruit trees. I also have passion fruit vines. I will post again when you post that you have received the plants.
DW
Hi,
I would love the 'Arawak' and one of the Yellow Christmas and Red Christmases... but I don't have any rare EEs to offer. Just the extra postage- and I'm very willing to pay it :) Like someone else mentioned, though, take better offers if you get them, and if you have any left I would love to have some.
Thanks,
~Gina
Question:
Has anyone shipped heliconia before?
Is it OK to cut off the stalk a few inches above the root ball? Or do you need to leave more on the plant?
Better to ship bare roots or wrapped in some peat moss?
Thanks, ROX
I've received Heliconia before, the roots were wrapped in plastic with some soil, I didn't pay much attention to what kind of soil. I can ask (or you can) on the TopTropicals forums, they seem to be good about answering questions... of course, I would probably say something about how you had purchased Heliconia from them before and have divided up the Heliconia and now want to know the best way to ship them as Xmas gifts... ;)
I think companies overall prefer if you mention you were a customer, lol
The Heliconia I received from them is doing well, and it was sent as I described above. It was young, though, so I do not know how they fare if you cut the stalks.
~Gina
rox-I don't know how big the rhizomes are that you are getting of each of the heliconias, but they are very easy to divide. It will be obvious where you can make the cut through the rhizomes to get several plants. As long as you have one rhizome with roots-you have a viable plant-they are not tender plants lol they are geared to grow! The smaller the rhizome, the longer it may take to send up a new shoot, but they should-esp with if provided with warm temps to grow in. They like a well draining soil, but I would keep the soil moist while they are reestablishing themselves.
As to whether you can take off all the leaves-if they are too tall to ship-then yes, but maybe make the rhizome divisions a bit more robust so there are more roots per division. If you can leave any leaves on-that is better-even bending the newest leaf and semi-protecting it while shipping. It may straighten back up, or still stay green enough-even if bent to help the plant, long enough for a new leaf to emerge. You can wash all the soil off the roots to help with the weight as well, and just put some really wet paper towels around the roots and put in a plastic bag that you can seal so the water doesn't drain out. Good luck-this is very nice of you to do for everyone!
Dear Gina and Tiger-
Thank you for responding so quickly about the shipping info!
ROX
Rox,
I am interested!! I recently recieved 2 heliconias, and they were bare root with just a small piece of the stalk left on., about 6 inches, or so. I got them in May or June. They both took off like gangbusters!! Within no time had 3-4 stalks on each one. I will get with you on a trade, or do postage--with, of course, extra for your time and packaging, whichever you prefer. I am interested in the Rostrata, golden torch, and either red or yellow christmas.
Sending you dmail......
What a shame your friend is unable to keep them.
Thank you so much.
Janet
Dear All-
Thanks for all the interest and the information.
I am going to "close" the thread, meaning everyone who responded here or by Dmail by this time, will received priority for the heliconia.
I am uncertain how much my friend will be able to send (and I hope that shipping is OK with this cold weather!). But as soon as I receive them I will sort out who wants wants versus what I received.
Happy Thanksgiving to all,
ROX
Thank you Rox and Happy Thanksgiving to you!
Thanks ROX, Happy Turkey Day to you and everyone else :)
Dear All-
It seems like the family situation is clearing up for my friend. So he won't be moving and he won't need to give up his garden!
However, he was very appreciative of everyone's willing to adopt his plants, so he has sent some heliconia. Also, he thinks it's a good idea to down size his garden.
I will contact people by Dmail, according to the order in which you responded. Note, some responded here and some directly by Dmail.
I just wanted to say thank you to everyone for your willingness to help adopt out the plants. I am deeply happy that he can keep his garden. I sincerely hope no one will be too disappointed.
ROX
Rox
The preservation of ones family has total priority over me getting one. I understand completely.
Jeri
I'm glad everything worked out for your friend, and that was generous of him to offer some anyway!
Thanks for having been willing to do the transactions ;) That was generous of you.
~Gina
Rox,
I am so glad for your friend!!! Yes, I agree, you are the generous one to offer to take care of his plants AND to offer some to your DG friends!!
As I said in the email, it matters not to me, either.
Take care and Happy Holidays to you and your friend!!
Janet
Dear All-Thanks for the best wishers.
ROX