Heliconias... Heliconias... Heliconias: Watching Flower Growth : Lady Di

Welcome to Heliconias... Heliconias... Heliconias

This blog is all about growing Heliconias, an exotic plant not native to Malaysia. All pictures shown are digital photos of the actual species in my garden such as Rostrata, Dwarf Jamaican, Latispatha and several psittacorums such as Andromeda, Lady Di, Fuschia, Strawberry & Cream and hybrids such as Golden Torch and Alan Carle.

Heliconia are close relatives of gingers, bananas, birds-of-paradise and traveler’s palms. There are more than 200 (350 including cultivars) documented species of the single genus, with the bulk of them originating from Central and South America such as Guyana, Costa Rica, Berlize, Ecuador, Peru and Brazil. You may be interested to note that about 6 species have evolved separately in the South Pacific and Indonesia, and typically have green inflorescence.The name "heliconia" actually comes from Greek mythology after the great Mount Helicon, the abode of the muses of the arts and sciences.

The beauty of the heliconia lies in the brightly coloured bracts that are mistakenly called the flowers. The actual flower is the tiny little flowers that emerge from the large showy bracts. Each stem can only flower once, after which the entire stem deteriorates, drives up and collapses. As such, it is recommended to cut at the base of 'flowered-out' stems.

BTW, this blog has been read by visitors from Australia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, France, India, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Netherlands Antilles, Netherland, Singapore, Spain, Thailand, Trinidad & Tobago, United Kingdom & United States of America :-)

16th Sept 2009 : 17:30

Monday, October 20, 2008

Watching Flower Growth : Lady Di

16th November 2008

14th November 2008

13th November 2008

12th November 2008

10th November 2008

9th November 2008.

All perianths have dropped off and all we can see is the decaying 3 red bracts and the yellow ovaries.

In the coming days, we can only expect to see fruiting and decaying red bracts.

8th November 2008.

Still 1 perianth left...

7th November 2008.

As expected, there is 1 perianth left.

6th November.

2 perianths left and the topmost starting to open.
We can expect it to drop off by tomorrow.

5th November 2008

The rightmost perianth is starting to open and will drop off by tomorrow...

4th November 2008.
Another perianth is starting to open...

3rd November 2008.
As expected, there only 3 perianths left.

2nd Nov 2008.
4 perianths are visible. You should notice that the topmost perianth is glowering and will drop off by tomorrow.

1st November 2008

Only 5 perianths left...

31st October 2008

Perianths are looking sticky yellow and there are 6 left with the top right opening.

28th October 2008

Yes, the perianth actually dropped of yesterday evening .

27th Oct 2008

Did you notice the opening of the leftmost petals as it flowers. I expect the perianth to drop off tomorrow, and exposing the ovary.

26th October 2008

Moved to LH of balcony.

As expected, one of the perianth has dropeed off.
10 perianths visible

25th November 2008

Rightmost perianth starting to open and should drop off by tomorrow.

24th October 2008

9 perianths clearly visible

21st October 2008

8 yellow perianths are now visible.

20th October 2008

6 yellow perianths are now visible.

19th October 2008

4 yellow perianths are now visible and the 3 red bracts are still vertical.

17th October 2008, Starting to monitor flowering process