mjdsinsacto

Hello everyone!

I found the site while googling for info on the care of giant bird of paradise plants which I've had (and abused and neglected) for many years while living in San Francisco. Both lived indoors; having moved to Sacramento (Zone 9) in May, they're finally outdoors in bright shaded sunlight.

One plant is recovering nicely--leaves are bright green and shiny. The other has been reduced to near clumps (I pruned it back), with small new leaves coming up. In truth, both plants look "happier" and are getting best light, ample water; and, I firmly believe, the open air is just doing wonders for them.

In fact, all my plants (only these two and a ficus benjamina survived the moves--believe it or not, I moved 4 times between February and May this year, finally settling down in Sacramento.) I can't say enough about the climate--I was pretty much stuck in the frigid side of SF's microclimates. My birds of paradise plants have never gotten the care they required.

Question: How do I get my plants to bloom? How long will it take. Neither has had blooms ever.

I browsed some of the images in the galleries--so wowed by the impressive plants many in this community have in their collections.


Mary

Kim

Hi mjd; aka-Mary
Welcome to Bananas. Your Bird of Paradise are hearty plants and should do great up their. Aren't the colors vibrant. You'll find a lot of helpful and friendly people here at the org.
Best Wishes and Welcome aboard.

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Catch ya on the rebondKim

Eric

Welcome aboard, Mjd ! You'll find this a very friendly & informative place, open around the clock ! If you have any questions, just ask...... Uh..... Er...... She did?

Okay . For your questions on "Bird of Paradise", just go to the homepage of this site, scroll down to a section header called "Other Plants". Click on that header-name. When the new screen pops up, scroll down to a long, blue button titled "New Thread". Click on that & you will be prompted to type in a title for your query. The larger box is the actual post - just type in your question(s) there then click the "Submit New Thread" button. This places your new thread in the "Other Plants" thread list. Other members will see your thread & help out with answers, etc.

Hope you have as great a time here as I have! Don't know much about "Bird of Paradise" but lots of members very likely do. Have fun !

buzzwinder

Welcome to the Org. Mjd, lots of good information here, and a really good group of people.

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Bill for my friend

bepah

Mary,

With regard to getting your Bird of Paradise (BOP) to bloom;

Winter temps are the limiting factor in the lack of blooms. It gets awfully cool for them in Winter. If you thought it was cool in San Francisco, wait until January in Sacto....it will get signuficantly below freezing. IT will be cold enough to kill your BOP if it does not get some protection, either by covering it or protection from the cold dry winds we get here. You best location outside is on the SE corner of the property, hopefully in the lee of these winds which come from the NW. Full sun or full shade will also give problems if you want a bloom.

Your BOP will require feeding 4 times a year once in spring, early summer, early fall and late fall. Good luck. I have a Giant BOP that blooms every year. It get about 4 hours of sun daily.

As to getting your Ficus to bloom....I don't think so. Never seen it here. Bring it inside during the winter unles you can GUARANTEE 40 degrees as the low...and no lower.

BTW, I live in Brentwood, about 45 miles SW of you and have similar temps.

Good luck!

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John Case
Rookie Gardener, Veteran Drinker

mjdsinsacto

Oh, my! Below freezing?! Not looking forward to those temps. For me, and the plants. I suppose I can overwinter them indoors.

Thanks for rolling out the welcome wagon, guys!

CookieCows

Welcome Mary This is an awesome forum! Someone always has the answer!

Deb

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harveyc

Welcome, Mary! I'm a river rat, a Sacramento County native south of you in the delta. My climate is very similar to yours except I get more cooling in the summer evenings. I only have experience with the regular bird of paradise, so I defer to John (bepah).

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justjoan

Hi Mary, Greetings from Minnesota,glad you are here, I had a Bird of Paradise for many years and had trouble getting it to bloom also and gave up, these folks will give you the help you need I am sure, again welcome!

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Friends are the siblings God never gave you

bepah

No need to defer to me as you are wiser......

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John Case
Rookie Gardener, Veteran Drinker

lorax

Welcome, Mary! You've come to the right place.

BOP in Ecuador blooms twice a year - at the beginning and end of the rainy season. You'll need to feed your plant at least twice if not four times yearly using the same formula you would for Canna (balanced), make sure it's in soil with wicked-good drainage, and drench it regularly. Part shade is better than full sun - in the wild these are canopy understory plants (they're South African in origin, but they've escaped from florist's plantations and naturalized in Ecuador's forests.)

momoese

I have a Giant BOD in my yard and I totally neglect it. It gets water from me maybe twice a year, never gets any food. It grows like a weed and I just got through removing all the flowers because they are the messiest things ever. They constantly leak this nectar that turns into a gooey mess all over the place, then the spent flowers turn an ugly brown color which stays on while the others continue to open. This winter I plan to remove it in favor of a fig tree or something like that. The only reason it has survived my machete thus far is the shade it provides for the patio on hot summer afternoons.

I removed a thick stand of regular BOD when I prepped the garden for bananas. One tough bastard to remove!

harveyc

Mitchel, your comments have given me the courage to say it: I think these things look ugly. When I've seen them they've usually had a lot of dead flowers on them. I remember commenting on them when I went to SoCal with my friend Bryan of Puerto Rico. He has them and said he thought they were attractive and that puzzled me so we discussed its features, etc. I still didn't "get it".

Hey, John, I'm wise enough to usually know what I don't know.

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LilRaverBoi

Welcome to Bananas.org! This place is full of great information and helpful people....hope you enjoy it here and learn a lot! I know I have!

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