Migrating Bird

(O_o) funeee!

LOOKS more IN LABOR!!!! Maybe painful. SO CUTE!! Never saw a blue one before.

He's my slug and mosquito eater!!!!LOL

Hubby wants to know if he can get a cutting of that one!!

He is very cute and reminds me of a dumb thing I did one time. I got this plant that was some kind of yucca about 8-10 ft. tall, I wanted it to look like it was blooming so I cut the bottoms out of white egg crates and shaped the styrofoam to look like little flowers. Got the ladder and climbed to the top of the plant and stuck a white flower on every tip that stuck up at the top. Before I finished so I could get down, a humming bird came and started humming the flowers and was quite upset there was no nectar and was all over me, like he thought I took it or I was in his territory or something. I almost fell getting down. We laughed till we cried at the hummers, and all I wanted was blooms.

LOL,I'll try to sneak up on him and get one!LOL

I hear you,my white bird of paradise must be getting to be 10 yrs and not bloom one,it has busted out of least pots,this year I planted her in the ground,she's putting out leaves but no blooms!!!!

Is there something particular about the stems when there will be a bloom on it, or does it look like the regular new leaves making their debut? Just want to know what to look for if/when the time comes for my BOPs. I have them all on the deck in their pots receiving bright light all day long. They seem happy there, as they're constantly spitting out new leaves.

If you notice how and where the leaves come on new from the base,the flower stems,will come up between the stem branches,in between the middle of the stems usually for me.and there will color at the end,you'll know right away its a flower,and not a new leaf.

Happy Birthday to youuuuu Happy Birthday to youuuu.. Happy Birthday dear Tropicman, Happy birthday to youuuuu
Here is a bloom I got to see, smell and touch last night at Tropicmans' house. I hope you gOt some chocolate cake, Don!

Happy birthday tropicman. What is that flower bloom of? That is beautiful!

Thanks go here to find out!

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1004736/#new

Hope you had a fun filled Happy Birthday!!!!!!

I'm hoping one of you northerners growing Birds can help me out with this question. I've had my Birds for many, many years... growing happily in very large pots outside. This was a winter for the record books. No matter how hard I tried to protect them, I just couldn't keep them warm enough. We were out of town for one prolonged period of temps in the teens and somehow the protection came loose. The result was complete browning of the tops of my birds. The roots looks healthy in the soil, but the tops and stalks are completely gone. I'm wonder... will Birds come back when there is absolutely NOTHING alive on top? Will they behave like elephant ears and spontaneous send something up elsewhere along the roots? These plants were babies from plants that were brought back from Australia via Army Air by hubby's uncle back in the 50's. They have sentimental value. The original plants were lost post-Katrina in New Orleans.... so I want to save these Birds if at all possible. Advice would be very appreciated!

If the roots weren't wet and froze,you might have a chance they will come back,keep them warm and little on the dry side.I had one comeback,that was cold,and lost all its stems,and thats what I did,kept them warm and dry,until I saw a little growth re appear,before watering them.

Okay, I'll give it a try. I just had no idea whether there was even a possibility once all the stalks were gone. The roots look very viable though... so I'll keep hoping! Thanks for the feedback. =)

I have the same problem with my 2 birds in New Orleans. My smaller one is in full sun, next to a brick wall. It has started resprouting already. My larger one, however, is in partial shade. It hasn't done a thing yet. I'm giving them both a few months before deciding whether to replace them or not.

Did you cut your stalk all the way down to prevent rot? Also, where did yours start resprouting? A pic would be great, so I could know what to watch for. We had an unhappy surprise last night, didn't we? The cold came a day earlier and got to lower temps than they predicted. We reached low 30's last night and it's currently only 38. Isn't winter EVER going to end?!

This message was edited Mar 21, 2010 3:31 PM

I remember having a freeze warning the first week of May last year. Boy was I ticked. You'd think by then it would be safe to plant!

Here's the smaller BOP that's in full sun, next to a brick wall. I didn't cut it all the way to the ground - I left about 6" or so. This seemed to be where the dead part ended. The new growth is coming from center of the old growth. Just like new leaves normally grow.

I had to cut mine back as well. I had them in the GH, but they still got a little too cold, I think. 3 of the 4 appear to have a lot of green from the bottom to half way up each stem, but that's where I cut them (where the dead started). Should I cut them down further (even if it's green)?

Mine were dead all the way to the base on top, but the roots still have life. There was nothing green to leave on top... so I cut them to the ground, literally. There's not a crown center for new leaves to come from, so perhaps I'm sunk. I'm going to leave them undisturbed probably for the whole summer and see what happens. Since they are in huge pots, I can just roll the pots to a less conspicuous area (but stlll in full sun) and let them be until they sprout or until I'm sure they are gone. Thanks for the photos and shared experience. I appreciate it!

The green will finally go to brown,so either way you can cut now or later.

Here is a picture of mine, post-surgery. :-(

Nice greenhouse.

Thanks! It's my new one (my belated Christmas gift to myself). I needed more space ... who doesn't! lol.

I definitly believe in gifting oneself! Ha! ha!

My first ever attempt at BOP's started in Dec. I planted 6 each of the orange, Mandella's gold and white. 2 each of the orange and Mandella's have sprouted and are 6-8" tall. The white only sprouted 1 and is still just a little tip sticking up out of the soil. One of the Orange has it's second leaf but the rest still have just one. I live in upstate Penna. and have all of them in four inch plastic pots with 2 litre coke bottles over them. They have been in the little coke bottle terraniums since I took them out of the seed starter cells. My question is " Now what do I do " I am so afraid of removing them from the bottles for fear of killing them as we are still in the semi heating season here. They all sit around my laptop looking at me saying " free me free me " but I don't know at what point I should. Also, since it is only in the 40-50 outside but super sunny could I put them out to get soom natural sunlight. The only light the get now is from a small 40 watt desk lamp behind my laptop. Any help would be appreciated as I don't want to loose any of them.

I have 2 white that are between 4 and 5 ft. tall, and one orange that is over a foot tall. They have many leaves. I have a floor lamp that has three adjustable lights, in which I have put 3 of those new fluorescent bulbs. The 2 whites are underneath this lamp. The smaller orange is in my bedroom sitting on my dresser underneath another lamp with the fluorescent bulb. They have all had new growth since I had to bring them in last fall. When they go back outside this spring I will have to harden them off first. If I were you, I would first start with seeing how they respond to removing their little terrariums. Last winter I germinated a banana from seed in a little solo cup inside a baggie. When I removed the banana from the baggie the banana wilted. I put it back in the baggie and sealed it. Banana stood right back up. So, (on the suggestion of Tropicman) I began gradually opening the baggie. When I was able to fully open the bag without him melting I took him out. Maybe you should try gradually lifting the bottles, leaving them in the spot they are in. After they have adjusted you could try hardening them off when the temps are warmer. How does this sound?

I think I will just remove the cover a little each day and see how they react. Thanks.

Thanks
Good advice

I'm seeing signs of growth on three of my four birds ... that's a good sign.

Congrats!

OK I did it. I kept my white bird of paradise outside in zone 7 over winter and it is about 2 foot tall right now and looking good. I composted it and mulched it and left it outside. I went out this morning and pulled out the mulch from over it and it was green and growing. They do survive my zone with care.Woo-Hoo! Maybe it will fly this summer so I can see a bloom.

Congrats!!!!!!
Both your thumbs must be green!!!!

Congratulations, especially after this wacky winter we just had!!

How much/what kind of mulch did you do for it? A fence around it filled with leaves or pine straw, or just a few-inch pile of mulch on top of the base? Very curious ...

My Giant white birds didn't make it though the winter. We're in the process of cutting them down to the ground & will give them until around June to see if anything comes back from the ground. I'm kind of hopeful something will sprout from the roots since the roots seem to be pretty solid in the ground. The stalks were rotten almost all the way to the ground.
Jo-Ann

Well, first I cut it back to about a foot above ground and wrapped in newspaper then mounded dried leaves around it and then covered in mulch. Then a month later I saw green shooting out the top and thought for sure it was a gonner but low and behold when I went out to check it out and pulled the mulch away from it, it was still green and had put up about 6-8 more inches of green. Looks good if I do say so myself. I'll try to get a picture of it later today if the rain stops. It's been in the 90's here all week and today it is raining but suppose to be cooler for a while now.

Great! I'm hoping that rain come this way and washes away the pollen! Thx much!

Well, we got rain and cooler weather but I wasn't expecting the tornado we got. We were ok at my place but right around me it touched down and did real damage. Then they spotted 2 more but not sure on all the damage thus far.
Gonna be in the LOW 70's now for at least a week and 40's at night. WOW! I can like this weather.
You guys watch for the bad weather as it moves around. This one came up SUDDENLY with no warning till it was on us.

Glad to hear you're okay Mekos, and hope there weren't any lives lost or injuries as a result of the twister. How scarey! I saw the tornado warnings on the news last night, but they were in the southern VA area. Hope everyone is okay.