Bird of Paradise : Strelitzia reginae

ORIGINAL POST FROM June 27, 2013:

We were plant-shopping and my husband saw one of these and he just had to have it.  It had a bud opening and it was beautiful.  Small, but beautiful.

We planted it against the southern fence of our yard in spring and as the season wore on, we were fairly certain it was not going to make it.  Some of the leaves died back, others browned and cracked but didn’t fully die… and there was no new growth… and there were no new flowers.  I suspected it was dormant, but neither of us had ever been around these before.  In winter and fall and spring, the back area of our yard gets a good deal of shade… so we wondered if it wasn’t getting enough sun.  But during the summer, it is a full-sun area.  And it definitely made it!

We have new growth!

And a lot of it!!!

Here’s a little info about this beauty.  It is successful in zones 9a-11 (perfect for our part of Houston), requires full sun or part shade and it is evergreen.  And I can’t wait for it to bloom again!!!

UPDATED SEPTEMBER 2013:  It keeps growing!    

If you look at the photos and pay attention to the bottom strip of wood going across the fence, you’ll see just how much!

It looks like it has spread, as well, which is AWESOME!  I did some research on propagation methods for this beauty, but I wasn’t looking forward to trying any of them.  So, mission accomplished!  Hooray!

October 18 Update:  Not only has the plant spread a bit, which is super exciting, but it also has a new bloom!  We weren’t really expecting new blooms until spring, so this is really really cool!