Thanks! =)
Our baby gets a food processed banana peel three times a year and misting twice a week... and that's about it. We protect her from hard freezes (25 and below) with visqueen, but otherwise she's outdoors on a fairly protected courtyard wall through all weather, including 30'ish winter temps, a hail storm and two hurricanes. She's just a very happy baby!
Migrating Bird
BlissfulGarden, I'm glad if anything I said helped you out. Isn't it great to see that first BOP flower? You'll get more next year & even more the year after that. Be careful with fertilizer. Don't give it anything with high nitrogen, or anything else too frequently. I use Peters Professional Super Blossom Booster Plant Food, 10-50-10, in a weak solution about once a month.
I was at the City Park Botanical gardens about a month ago for the garden show. I was admiring all the staghorn ferms. Some are really immense. I may have seen your donated one & not realized it. What does the plaque say, so I can look for it the next time I'm there.
I have a nice staghorn, but after two years it doesn't seem to be growing very much. Are you doing anything special with yours? How much sunlight? Mine is in bright light, with no direct sunlight. I don't fertilizer, but give it a spray of water about once a week during hot weather.
Jo-Ann
Jo-Ann, the plaque is small and brass. It simply says "In memory of Zach T. Stanborough, 1915-2006". They normally do not post plaques by donated plants, so we were very grateful that they allowed us to have one.
The only thing I do with the staghorn is grind up a banana peel in a food processor and tuck it into the nooks and crannies at the beginning of spring, summer and fall. It's in filtered sunlight, mounted on a brick column underneath a large oak tree. I give it a drink with the sprayer once or twice a week in summer. This one started out three years ago with five leaves (fronds?) that I split off the mama. I'm actually not sure of the terminology, but you get the idea! =P
I'm going to have to start saving my banana peels for the garden!
Jo-Ann
Me too! Great looking plants! I'm still waiting on my BOP to bloom.......
Seeing all these I now have hope for mine. It may take a few more years, I started mine from seed last spring. She's about 1 1/2 feet tall now. Thanks Don, you always inspire me.
Robyn,
You're welcome.
Seems to be growing pretty good from seed and faster than I'd think it would,to me these birds grow slow enough as it is!
I was watching Miami,CSI last night and in one of the scenes it should a giant white bop with yellow bird of paradise flowers,you never know what TV is going to show !!LOL
I'll have to start watching more closely then, cause I didn't see it. Dang,. I picked up a white BOP at Lowes along with a ZZ plant for $3.00 a piece, thought that was a good bargain, they are both about a foot tall.
Yep,those are excellent prices!!!!
Lucky you!!!!!
Woohoo. I can join the BOP party now; my BOP finally bloomed this year (it's so hard watching those bloom stalks slowly develop). Second year in a row now - I can't believe I almost gave up on this guy.
kepnikale, Aren't these just the most beautiful flowers? And we wait so long for them that when they do show up it's just wonderful. Now that it's starting to bloom, each year you'll get more & more.
I've heard that they will last for weeks if cut & brought inside. Actually, I seldom cut them off since they are so grand on the plant itself. Maybe when I start getting more blooms, I'll cut some off.
Jo-Ann
Congrats!!!!
I know I can't stop looking at them!!!LOL
Loverly!
I've been tempted to cut one and bring it inside, but I wasn't sure how long it'd last. I hate just leaving it out in the garage; we could certainly enjoy it more in the house.
Wish I could plant mine in the ground,the plant is so large now I move the pot around with a 2 wheeler!
Kale, beautiful bloom! Thanks for sharing. =)
I'm still waiting for a bloom......
We got snow last night.....does that count for strange and unusual....not exactly "tropical" tho. LOL!
Beautiful bloom. Can't hardly wait for mine.
Jeanne,Oh your hoping for a white bird!!!LOL
Or maybe a penguin bird!!!LOL
Yep....the penguin would have felt right at home here last night!
My BOP is in my makeshift GH, so maybe there is hope for it yet! LOL!
Don, hope you and Patti are doing well. Happy Holidays everyone!
Happy Holidays to everyone as well!!!
In time it will bloom,just keep feeding it when it warms up!
OK! Will do! Thanks!
My first msg on DG. Can anyone advise me. I have 3 lg Birds 24" pots They are at least 4-6 yrs old. Something happen this yr all the leaves are in very bad shape. Partially trimed back in the hopes of not losing the mother plants leaving center leaves and roots. Does anyone think they could make it in the ground?
Are these outside or inside now?
Unless in a micro climate,don't think they would make it in zone 8.
They can take a light frost but not much under 25* for a long period of time.
Have they had much cold and lots of moisture this winter?
You could try cutting them right back for the winter and see if they return in the spring. I think the roots would be able to survive in the ground provided the soil doesn't freeze too much.
Mike
THANKS. They are in pots in the garage. Temps were really in the 60-70's several days. I forgot the nite it turned 45-50 and left out. Thats when I think the problem began. Leaves looked wind burned or sun burned due to being in the garage for several months. This week we are to have the 75-80's, so will give them some light and keep under the patio. I maybe need to trim a little more the new growth is trying to come out and I have a new baby. I will try to get pics before I trim.
I planted one of mine in the garden in early summer which had spent it's whole life in a nursery and then indoors. The sun and wind burnt the existing leaves but the re-growth was fine as the plant adapted to the outdoors.
If you plant yours outdoors it too will adapt and temps of 45-50 won't bother it at all. In fact I had several other birds in the ground before last Winter and with temps as low as 35 they were fine.
Mike
Is there any hope that I might be able to successfully grow one of these in Raleigh, NC (7b)? I used to live in Tucson, and my neighbor had one on the corner of his house facing mine, and I loved (and miss) it! I would love to have one and see it bloom one day (I can be patient). Just curious what sort of "lifestyle" would be suggested for it in my area.
I have a deck which gets filtered sunlight in the summer, some full-sun yard space, shaded yard space, and will have a GH (hopefully erected this weekend) that will be in the shade most of the day in summer under deciduous trees, allowing for full sun in the winter.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions!
Unless you have a area with a 9 zone micro-climate,I don't think it would be possible,I'm a zone 7 here,and I don't think it could take a zero temperature for whole day without dying.
Even tho the ground hasn't froze here in quite some years,I still think it's still to cold.
I think like me it will have to be a container plant,and over winter indoors,for the flowering time is always around or after the Xmas holidays for me,and the cold would never let it flower.
You might try winter protection with a heat source,I over winter a washingtonia robusta a palm,wit the same zone requirements as the bop,by building a makeshift greenhouse and using rope Xmas lights wrapped around the trunk for a heat source,and it made it thru this
winter with flying colors,but then it was covered most the winter,unless it was going to be around 50* and then I would uncover until I got home from work and covered it back up for night time.
Thanks Tropicman. I failed to mention that I will have a GH for the winter months to keep it toasty, unless that would be too cold as well, in which case, it will be welcomed indoors with open arms. :)
If you don't keep your greenhouse at freezing or higher,I'd bring it inside the house for overwintering,but you could keep it out there until the temps do drop that low!
Good Luck
I have Giant Birds and Strelitzia Birds of Paradise and this winter they were not happy. I live in zone 8b and the leaves look like crap. This was a cold winter, tempetures at night on the mid 20's. The base of the plant is still green, so I cut back the bad leaves and I see some new growth. I just don't know how fast these plants grow. I am thinking of taking them out of my garden because by the time they come back, winter will be here again. I have seen Birds of Paradise all over the neighborhood the past 5 years, so last year I decided to buy them, had no clue we would have such a cold, wet winter. Poor Birds. My neighbor has one that has to be 8 - 10' tall and it is all brown and shrively. He must of had it for a long time. Do you think I should give up on the birds? Can they grow inside the house as a house plant? How fast do they grow? Please advise. Thanks, Jennifer
Shelbsyd, I have birds that had sad looking leaves last winter. I'm also in 8b (Louisiana). Pics of my first bloom are above (scroll up). I don't just trim the leaves when they look bad... I split them off at the base so that they don't gather too much moisture in the crook and then rot out. Too much moisture will cause you many problems. It's okay to just follow outside leaves down to the very base of the plant and pull outward to separate the leaf completely from the base. It will leave you a nice, healthy white base with the new green leaves coming out and a strong root stock. The plant may look a little small for a while as the new leaves come out, but I believe the plant is healthier in the long run. This is the strategy I've used for the last three years with my birds... after we transplanted very abused rootstock from their home in New Orleans post-Katrina. Good luck! Ev
Thank you Blissful Garden for your advise. I will do that when I get home from work. I had no clue on how to take care of them. My poor plant will not be much of anything, but anything will help. This winter I will be sure to cover them. Funny is my Philadenroms that are planted near the birds made it with no problem, but the birds don't like the cold.
Hey Tropicman. Here's a photo of a recently bloomed Nathan Charles Hibiscus in our garden. There's a few more on the way. Looking forward to those!
Mike
Oh man! she's a beauty,I just bought one today called Delta Rose,about the same color with a black eyed center,it doesn't have the ruffles on the outer leaves like yours does.
These new hybrid varieties here,are very expensive,$20 bucks for a rooted cutting,I wished I could have bought a bunch more,that had quite a few,but I already had spent my $50 bucks a week allotment!!!LOL
oh thats a purty one!
Are you wheeling your plants out yet or still too early?
Normally I have them out ,but the weather is not cooperating ,8 inches of snow last weekend,and this week,were expecting a couple days of a hard freeze,so it looks like it will be another week or two!
Winds were blowing with gust to 60mph yesterday and today looks no different.
It blew so hard that it was blowing semi trucks over on there sides,closing down highways!!!
I am freezing!!!! I have to go out and blanket up my pots that I gathered together under the picnic table and the bbq grill.. lay blankets over the north and south fences... and I am too cold! what the heck!