HeliconiaHeader
Heliconia

(Delivery May to October 2008)

These plants almost shout the word exotic with their large leaves and bright coloured flowers. Please don’t forget that you can grow Heliconia from seed and I have grown some useful 3ft Rostrata and 6ft Latispatha plants from  seed to flowering size. We have expanded our range of these popular plants for 2006 and most should be available in sufficient quantity apart from the “Limited Editions”
!

Heliconia aemygdiana

JP1949
!
Larger picture 
Sold Out
"Purple Peru" 3 litre plants 2ft tall
Aemygdiana is a medium sized heliconia, 5-6 feet tall. Grows well in partial to full shade, so may suit our UK low light levels under glass.  Bracts are hot lavender pink with a bright yellow rachis and small green flowers. Fruits are an attractive glossy blue colour when ripe. We have a few seed grown plants from 2005 and the picture is from one of the larger stock plants now flowering at a modest height of 3ft.

Heliconia angusta Holiday Red

JP834
!
Larger picture 
Red Christmas Heliconia 3 litre plants 2ft tall
A Heliconia grown for its spectacular inflorescences, red or yellow bracts with white flowers, used extensively in the cut flower trade. Height anywhere from 5ft to 10ft but probably smaller when pot grown.

Heliconia angusta Holiday Yellow

JP835
!
Larger picture 
Yellow Christmas Heliconia  large 3 litre plants
We have some superb clumping 5 litre plants coming up to flowering size! Heliconia Angusta is a more cold tolerant species from Southern Brazil and therefore perhaps more suitable for pot culture, we offer both the Holiday red and Holiday yellow. Flowering height between 4ft and 7ft with banana like foliage in spring. Needs a minimum overnight temperature of of 15C in winter and be careful of red spider mite in dry conditions. We find this plant one of the easiest heliconias to overwinter.

Heliconia latispatha

JP289
!
Larger picture 
Limited Availability
Orange Gyro 5 litre plants
One of the hardiest Heliconia and we have found this the easiest to over winter in cooler conditions (relative term easiest as all require warm winter temperatures). A very large tough Heliconia but we have them flowering at about 6ft from 3 year old seed grown plants. We have a few available this year again from division.

Heliconia psittacorum Golden Girl

JP693
!
Larger picture 
Parrot's Beak 3 litre plants
Another smaller Heliconia with bright yellow to orange flowers on good light green foliage. Between 2ft to 5ft tall, depending on light and heat conditions. Not as hardy as Latispatha or as vigorous but a useful size for pot culture and our plants seem to flower each year once large enough.

Heliconia rostrata

JP274
!
Sold Out until next year
Lobster Claw 3 litre plants
The classic Heliconia with hanging ‘lobster claw’ flowers on 5ft plants. I originally thought that this Heliconia was difficult to flower in the UK but one of my plants is in flower at the time of writing. Also attractive in leaf with a maroon reverse to the leaves and slender tall foliage.

Heliconia Schiedeana

!
Mexican Heliconia 3 litre plants
This is said to be the cold hardiest Heliconia and closely related to Latispatha. Growing to only 5ft or 6ft it makes it an excellent subject for a heated conservatory or greenhouse in the UK. Remember that Heliconia generally come from tropical mountain slopes with good drainage and most failures trying to grow these is down to root rot in cold wet winter conditions. If you want to try a Heliconia with only 12C to 15C night temperatures in winter  - this one may just survive. Schiedeana is a native of southern Mexico. We hope to have a few plants for sale later this year and more in 2009.

Heliconia stricta Dwarf Jamaican

JP1074
!
Larger picture 
Dwarf Jamaican Heliconia 3 litre plants
Most Heliconia are tall plants, some to 15ft tall before flowering, but there are a few more manageable for pot growing given enough heat. This one as far as I know is the smallest flowering at only 2ft. The flowers or bracts stay fresh for some time on the plant before fading maybe after a month. Ideal for bringing in doors to a warm sunny location before returning to its warm humid permanent position in a greenhouse (best with bottom heat) during winter. Many of our sale plants come into flower from November to December.

zz

!

Symbols

To Grow -- Easy Moderate and Challenging

May be ok for a dry Conservatory

Hardiness - To -5°C җ To -10°C җ җ Fully Hardy җ җ җ

Needs Shady Position Sunny Position Water Loving