Strelitzia, or Bird of Paradise, is a beautiful tropical looking plant with extremely showy flowers which indeed do look a bit like birds. It can be grown outdoors in areas that do not get more than a very light frost, meaning USDA zones 9 to 11 in the United States. Streletzia is native to parts of South Africa, where it enjoys a mild climate and year round precipitation. Bird of Paradise is a striking and easy to grow plant, making it a favorite of landscapers especially in Southern California. The only real criticism may be that Streletzia is over used because is so attractive and dependable.
Strelitzia is a genus of five species of perennial plants, most notably including Strelitzia nicolai and Strelitzia reginae. Strelitzia reginae is also known as Bird of Paradise, and has showy flowers of orange and blue. Strelitzia reginae is normally 2 to 3 feet in height, but can reach heights of up to 6 feet. Strelitzia nicolai is also known as the Giant Bird of Paradise and has large showy flowers which are white and blue-black. Strelitzia nicolai is normally about 6 to 10 feet tall, but can reach heights of up to 20 feet. All Strelitzia form circular clumps that slowly increase from year to year, and can become quite substantial. I have heard that Bird of Paradise can be invasive, perhaps because those sturdy clumps may overtake neighboring plants. However, they are fairly slow growing and can be easily kept in check with yearly maintenance under normal circumstances.
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Bird of paradise will grown in a variety of soils, in a variety of sun shade combinations, and is drought tolerant. You see this plant doing well in almost any soil and sun with little irrigation, which explains why it is so heavily used in landscaping for both residential and commercial areas. The ideal soil for bird of paradise would be peat, compost, and sharp sand in roughly equal parts. The ideal placement for bird of paradise would be in mostly full sun with a little shade. A sunnier location will yield more flowers, a shadier will result in lusher foliage. Bird of Paradise does well in drought locations, but new plantings should be well irrigated at least weekly in the heat of summer. Once established the plant can often survive with no irrigation, but will look it’s best with a weekly watering. To keep Strelitzia healthy an occasional light feeding of fertilizer or compost is recommended.
Strelitzia can be propagated by either division or from seed, but propagation by division is the usual method and much qucker and easier. Strelitzia do form substantial roots, so you will want a good sharp shovel for dividing a clump. It you are taking a portion from an existing clump, you will want first to identify the viable section to remove from the clump, point your shovel at a good division point, and dig with as clean a cut of the roots as possible. If you are instead taking a clump and dividing it into multiple smaller plants then you may want to first dig up the entire clump to get a better look at the root structure before division. Either way, the less you damage the roots the better, so the less hacking the better. Any roots that are heavily damaged in the process should be removed with pruning shears. Once you you are done dividing the clump I would advise putting some rooting powder with fungicide on all exposed roots. Plants that have been divided may take some time to recover before they flower.
Larry Truett is a freelance computer programmer living in San Diego, California with his wife and their three cats. He enjoys hiking, reading, gardening, watching too much television, and other nerdy activities.
Check out my resources for all things gardening at http://www.GardeningWithLarry.com with listings of local garden centers and specialty mail order nurseries.
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