Migrating Bird

I guess I'm kind of lucky being in New Orleans. My BOP currently has 5 flowers & about 4 more on the way. This was planted in 2007 and has tripled in size since then. By next year, it should be constantly covered in flowers.

I love my BOPs. When I had them in a pot they didn't bloom. Didn't know that you could plant them in ground. Did that. They bloomed. Had to leave some behind when I left Victoria, TX - too big for me to dig up - immediately bought some when we got back to Houston. It had a flower so I knew it would bloom again and soon. Planted it and it grew and bloomed gangbusters so divided it and it kept on blooming. Then we moved again 3 years after coming back to Houston. Had DS dig them and put them in big pot w/new dirt and they kept on bloomin. Today they have 4 blooms and 5 more on the way. The 38 Deg. temp we had this morning didn't deter them at all. Like I said: I love my BOPs.

Ann

Lucky you all.
I heard they can take a light frost,with no damage.

Have anyone of you guys grew, BOP from seed, Or a white Bird of Paradise
from. I would like to try them with our class.

I purchase both mine as plants. They take quite a while to grow from seeds & I wanted by white Bird of Paradise for privacy. That's a 6' fence behind these.
Jo-Ann

I inherited a large clump of Strelizia reginae near my front steps. They were flowerless, so I watered them a bit. Low and behold, they absolutely exploded with flowers and have many more to come forth. This is, by the way, the City of Los Angeles Official Flower.

I divided a clump of the nicholii (white Bird, or Giant Bird) and they are absolutely sulking, even with regular water. I have been told that dividing them is a risk for growth and flowering (of course, AFTER I divided mine). They take up to two years to actually come back from this, will grow VERY slowly, and will withhold flowers for the same amount of time.

jomocon, your nicholii are absolutely beautiful. I love this plant - drought tolerant once fully established!

Jungleman, I think you're right about dividing the nicholii. I originally purchased these 3 in gallon containers and since the containers were very full, I decided to divide up the containers to cover a larger area. That was spring of 2007, and they grew very, very slowly last year - maybe only a foot or so. This year, they must have finally settled down and have grown to the current height about an additional 4 feet this year - plus a lot of new babies. I think it will be another year or 2 before I see any flowers.
Jo-Ann

My white bird is at least 10 yrs old,and it kept busting out of every pot I put it in,so I divided it a year ago or so,has never flowered.

Mine has yet to flower either. Someday if it does, Don, you will hear me shout with JOY clear from Texas! LOL!

I'll keep my ear facing south,just in case you let out a Holler!

plantladyhou - My next door neighbor in MD is originally from Victoria, TX. His wife is from Port Lavaca (sp?). My Priest came from there earlier this year. Small world.

I'm looking forward to planting BOP when I "officially" move to FL. Lived in HI for 7 years and I loved seeing them everywhere.

Growing BOP Strelitzia reginae from seed is a long term project. They need a temperature of between 70 and 80 F. They may germinate in 10 to 12 weeks or as long as 12 months.
I have some seed in my Nursery but they will probably be forgotten before they germinate.

I can never get my flowers pollinated,for they only bloom inside the greenhouse,and always in the fall to early winter,never during the spring and summertime!
It's just now opening up all the way.

Poor lonely bloom in the greenhouse.

Lovely! I am so jealous!

Thank,s love your swing set greenhouse!!!

Thanks Johnpeten,
For the infor, So now I understand this will be a long project.
I do have heat mats and grow lights. I will be be doing this project
with children at work. Is there any more infor you may have
that can be helpful, like the kind of soil, should it we keep on the
dry out .

Thanks Don! It was a necessity since we don't have the canopy on the patio this year. It is so full I don't think I could get much more in there. Lately the weather has just been gorgeous, so I have the two front flaps taped open so the air can circulate.

Hopefully it will be a mild winter,enough extremes for one year!

MissG
Regular potting soil kept damp not soggy.
When you first see the seeds with their mop of red hair you may think somebody is playing a joke on you.
With such hard shell seeds it is helpful to soak them for a few days.
I am guessing that the purpose of the hair is to act as a wick to bring in water.

It is usual for children to provide something like Zinnias which are sure fire fast germinators and will grow on a warm windowsill. For me it was Mustard and Cress on a damp flannel.

John

johnpeten, Thank for the infor and I will keep the Zinnias in mine.
Gale

When in Maui in February this year I purchased the package of BOP seed as is the ritual. Planted all twelve in peat pots. Got discouraged and just put all of them in a pail. Early this summer was digging out lots of stuff and lo and behold one of them had germinated...in the dark with no water. I have it planted in my "nursery" pot and it has grown into 3 leaves about 12". This one is determined to live with or without my help.

I love yours, Don. You have great success going against nature. I'm in that boat this time. Went overboard on tropicals and now what happens when we have a frost???

Christi

Have Mike run outside and cover everything with blankets!!!LOL
Thats what I do,looks like ghost are every where in the yard!!!

Have missed your subtle humour.

Arthritis has been killing me lately.
Celebrex,must not be working anymore!!!

So sorry. Can certainly sympathize with the constant pain. Saps ones energy.



































http://search.live.com/images/results.aspx?FORM=MECA00&publ=be9d9177-4634-4322-9853-b31bbbd0483e&crea=STND_Search_feature_Image_SliderTreeHouse_160x600&q=tree%20houses#

Love the tree houses!!!

Neat tree houses! DS and daughter and friends used to have a really neat one in our backyard 25 yrs ago, nothing as elaborate as those pictured, tho. They ran an extension cord out there so they could take the little TV and a light out there. They hung out there for quite awhile. They really had some great times!

Don, sorry you're not feeling well. Does the cold weather cause more achiness? The extreme weather either hot or cold does mine. 'Will keep you in my prayers!

Oh, how funny. I clicked the tree house link from a newspage on Yahoo. I have no idea whatsoever how it got attached to my post.
Serendipitous, I would think. Glad you enjoyed it. You know my neighbor has a treehouse tripped out in victorian with a tv, ac/heat, refrig, microwave...all the comforts of home. It is for her hideaway...not the grandkids. He built an arbor and opened the fence between our yards so I can visit the treehouse whenever.

God is good everyday.

Christi

I purchased a White BOP this fall at Lowe's, it was about 1 1/2' tall. I repotted it and it is putting out new leaves. It is in the house for the winter.

I have some White and another color seeds to try. I didn't realize they were so long germinating. I thought Bananas & Passifloras were a long time germinating.

My white BOP is about 10 yrs old,never has bloomed,and has busted out of at least 3 pots now,the roots get so big and cramped,they just split the pot right into.
I have divided it a couple times,the biggest leaf is now at least 10ft tall.
I pray it will bloom one day!

Yes Jeanne,cold weather bunches me up something terribly.I ache all the time.
Praying for a mild winter!!!

Don, try a spoonful of Epsom Salt for the BOP. Can't hurt and might help.

Christi,You think a spoonful might help me as well???LOL

Can't hurt, might help.

There were quite a few threads about Bird of Paradise, so I didn't want to start a new thread with this... but I wanted to post a thank you to Jomoncon and htop for their help with my birds. Our Uncle Zach lived in New Orleans and had a BOP that he had brought back as a small plant from Australia back in the 50's (when you could still literally carry the plants on the plane with you). He also brought home a small staghorn fern. They were both gifts from his cousins (who still live in Australia), so he prized them. Both plants had grown huge in size over the many years, with the staghorn requiring an industrial chain for suspension. When Uncle Zach passed away post-Katrina, we split out three roots of the BOP to plant in pots at our house in Baton Rouge and cut off a start of the staghorn. The mama staghorn was donated to the Botanic Garden at City Park in New Orleans (look for it in the Train Garden... it's by far the largest one there!). Annnnyway, the BOP's hadn't bloomed at all since their move and finally had set a bud on one of the plants a few weeks ago... just in time for our weather to turn to frost. I contacted both htop and Jomoncon for advice on how to protect the plants and encourage the bloom. They were both kind enough to respond, which I very much appreciate! So, here's the long awaited bloom... 3 years in the making! I just had to take a photo of it when we first got home and saw it had opened (at night). I didn't want to take a chance that something might happen to it before I could get the shot!!! =P

Don't get any purteryour than that!!!
Did your uncle grow his in the ground or in a container?
They can take a light frost.
Don

Uncle Zach actually had the perfect place for his BOP. He grew it in a huge old stump that was decaying in the center of his back yard. It made the perfect naturalized circular bed. The BOP thrived there.

As Uncle Zach had no children or any other relatives here in the U.S., we really wanted to make sure that his memory lived on with the plants he loved. There's a small dedication plaque to him with his large staghorn in the Train Garden... and I plan to eventually split off more pups from our smaller "baby" staghorn as well as split out the BOPs to pass down to our children.

Here's the staghorn pup, 3 years after the split...

What ever your doing don't stop,she's green and lush and beautiful!