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| Hi,
I've grown interest in growing Heliconia ever since I went to Singapore Botanic Garden. Heliconias are abundant over there and they grow so well that even some of them cracked and grow on the cemented pathway. back in Indonesia, I used to think of them as potential weed, due to how quick they grew and nearly overtake the whole garden in a year (worse if I give them fertilizer). So, I undervalue them and threw all of them away. Now, I live in Melbourne, the winter temperature here can get to -1 to -2C in the morning with occasional very light frost, around 8 - 10C during midday. I read through the garden forum, people talk about schideana, subulata, angusta, spissa etc as being cold hardy. But, I wonder how cold they can survive to? will they still flower after exposure to -1C? I have been searching for answer from different sources. however, it seems every areas and ones own experience are different. So, I've decided to experiment it myself. I grow heliconia rostrata and subulata outside in the pot at the moment. there was just a light frost here yesterday. The subulata has not shown damage yet, but the rostrata has shown a slight frost burnt around the edges of the leaves. Should I worry about this?
I'm going to put subulata, rostrata, bihai 'nappi' and angusta 'red christmas' into the ground in my garden once the winter pass. So, I will need advice how to look after them. Can anyone tell if heliconia caribaea x bihai 'kawauchi' will likely to survive melbourne weather? Tirto |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| If you can find a HELICONIA SCHIEDEANA, they would make it through your winter no worries. Here in southern California, they border on being invasive, at least in my yard. Here's a photo of mine.
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| Thanks Cagary for your help. It's hard for me to find this species. e-bay is my last hope. |
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| I ordered seeds on seedrack.com and they're slowly waiting to germinate right now. They can take up to a year to sprout so I'm still waiting. I'm sure that there are other heliconias that can make it in Melbourne. Here it got to 19 degrees a few nights this record breaking winter and my new heliconia hirsuta hybrid "costa flores" died to the ground and resprouted in spring. The pseudostems are now over 2 ft. tall and should flower again before the seasons over! |
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| Hi Jaxtropix, has your heliconia ever flower after that? how did you protect it in the winter? many thanks |
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| I planted it against a wall, covered it with a tarp during freezes, and then replanted it in a wetter spot before spring. Its growing like crazy and I will be shocked if it doesn't bloom before winter, since its almost as tall as it was when I bought it in bloom. This winter I'll dig up the rhizomes, divide and repot, planting them back out in spring, much like gardeners up north grow elephant ears. Here's a shot of them from my blog... They're the ones on the left.
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Here is a link that might be useful: Overwintering Tropical Tubers
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| They look very healthy, jaxtropix.It just gave me inspiration not to give up putting my heliconia into the ground. |
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| I just thought I'd let you guys know that I have a new inflorescence on one of the stalks. This is after dying to the ground in winter so I think this is a good candidate for growing here in zone 9 since it blooms so quickly. I'll share photos when I can. |
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| Hey Jaxtropix, that's exciting, I can't wait to see what it's like. I moved my heliconia red angusta ouside a month ago. I thought it suffered a little because of the heater inside the house. the leaves were showing sign off dryness so I brought it ouside for more humidity. |
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