| Heliconia's may range from 2' to 25', and yes what venezuela said I believe is right. there are clumps and runners. I would recommend growing some natives in your yard if you plan on growing hedges or shrubs or planting anything; perrenial herbs, trees, groundcovers, potted plants, palms, ferns, grasses, vines, flowers, etc.. Also natives are not much high maintenence (sometimes when I encourage the growth of natives, ppl say No right away because ot the thought of the high maintainence), and if you truly want something Hawai'ian then there are the native plants. Native plants have been over looked by the introduced species. However native plants are not the easiest plants to get. Places like the Home Depot sell native plants, and there are several private nursuries on O'ahu, and private growers like myself that propogate and give away native plants. I am hopinng that the native plant community will grow through the years, and native plants will make their way to a good recovery. The native plants need our Aloha for their survival. 90% of all Hawai'is natives you will not find anywhere else in the world. Also many of them are endangered. That means our native flora is among the most unique, in fact this proportion of endemic and indigenous species exeeds that of anywere in the world. In our garden we Have a mixture of Heliconia, gingeres, and costas, along with 92 native plants species, and several potted specimens. At the Home depot you can find plants like: Brighamia insignis, Hedyotis littoralis, Gardenia brighamii, Peperomia blanda, Dianella sandsicensis, Myoporum sandwicense, Metrosideros polymorpha (I am strongly against the growth of alien Metrosideros due to the possibility of hybridization), Sida fallax, Plumbago zeylanica, Hibiscus arnottianus, Hibiscus clayi, Hibiscus kokio, Hibiscus arnottianus immaculatus, Hibiscus waimeae, Abutilon menziesii, Vitex rotundifolia, Ipomoea pes-caprae, Bidens torta, B. amplectens. B. cosmoides, Munroidenron racemosum, Pritchardia sp., Dodonaea viscosa, Acacia koa, Nototrichium sandwicense, and others. More and more native plants are becoming available. More public interest should increase the availability of these plants. Also I have some native potted plants that I have to clear out of my garden for room so I can propogate more plants. Let me know if you are interested in acquiring any. Mahalo and Aaaaloha! Malama o ka Aina!
Matt Garma |
