Bird of Paradise — a royal beauty
The Christmas holiday season has arrived. As much as I love this holiday season with all its reds, greens, sparkles and tinsel, I know what to make note of the royal beauty, orange and electric blue tones of a very favorite bush.
The large clumping Strelitzia – Bird of Paradise. A prolific bloomer in the sun with large colorful bracts and a hard canoe-like base that is like perfect bird beak with its top of plumage. The blooms peak out among the tall green mounding leaf bases and often stand at attention across the crown like soldiers on guard. That description is for my 18-year-old clump. The birds bloom off and on all year. I have used these birds many times in flower arranging and horticulture competitions. Lots of blue ribbons.
They are excellent cut flowers for inside the home. No water is needed to keep them well for at least six days. Some people insist on a little water but it is not necessary. It is good to have a layer of clean stones or glass beads in the container to stabilize the blooms if stems are cut long. They will actually look like talking birds depending on how they are placed.
Competition birds must be in excellent condition; for home use not so much. You can learn how to snip away any older looking plumes. Don’t we all lose a bit of youth as we age?
When you shop for a Bird of Paradise, you will be getting a small clump and it may not bloom for a couple of years. You need to remember to place the plant with enough space for it to grow wide as well as about 5 feet tall. It is not a messy clump. The large leaves will stay on the plant and just dry up and you can easily cut them away.
It likes damp feet but no standing water. My sprinkler runs twice a week and everything drains well. This is one hungry plant. I was told to feed it about once a year when we moved in, and that it did not bloom very often. The first three years it did not bloom at all.
I scolded it and said, “Bloom or go!” That did not work, much to the amusement of the man of the house, who did not think talking to plants was a great habit.
I finally talked to a lady gardener in Fort Myers about this problem and she said try feeding it about three times a year. That sounded pretty excessive but I started that and after the second feeding, it started to bloom well and has bending so ever since.
I used the little pellet food from the big box store. Spreading it around the bottom of the clump and lightly raking it in a little. To propagate, dig a clump and make sure it has bloomed before and just replant in a nice damp space as deep as it had been growing.
The Bird of Paradise is one of our tropical beauties that can withstand the blazing summer sun and also the cold 40s when necessary. I do not cover it up for the cold snaps. A real young plant, maybe.
There is a gigantic cousin to this bird – the Strelitzia Nicolai. This will be tree-like trunk about 15 feet or more tall. The flower beak is shaped the same but much larger and is only white. This large beak is often seen growing double and will be large and heavy and you will need to saw it to get it cut free. This cousin is not as popular but can be entered in shows.
The Bird of Paradise is a native of South Africa. It was introduced in the 1700s to the Royal Botanical Gardens. It was named after the wife of King George III.
One can only hope that they were introducing the beautiful and colorful bird and not the heavy double-headed white Bird of Paradise. But then, even paradise means different things to different people!
H.I. Jean Shields is Past President of the Garden Club of Cape Coral.