Cold Hardy Heliconia
Has anyone here experimented with overwintering Heliconia outside in zones 9a/8b?
I tried H. psittacorum but I believe it was planted in too much shade to make it though the winter coupled with that it was right under the eve of my shed so anytime it rained it would get drenched. From what I understand cold+wet=death for Heliconia. So I did a little research and I’ve made raised beds, amended with sand and fast draining soil so that I can experiment. Cultivars I currently have are Hot Rio Nights, Criswick, Schiedeana, Rostrata, and Nickriensis. Unfortunately most of these bloom on the second year, so here’s hoping we have a mild winter! |
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Nice!
I believe that is H. Schiedeana Aka Fire and Ice. Supposed to be the hardiest Heliconia but unfortunately only flowers on second year growth. But that’s awesome that it’s working for you out in Houston, hopefully it’ll be a good performer in Savannah as well |
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That looks like it. Thanks!
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H. schiedeana is, indeed, supposed to be one of the more cold hardy. I, too, have overwintered it in the ground here in the Houston area before. I have a 'Perdro Ortiz' that I may give a shot a leaving in the ground this winter (with a back-up saved, of course).
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Re: Cold Hardy Heliconia
Not that you asked, but it may interest you to know that the least hardy is heliconia (indica?) 'rubricaulis'. It is a cultivar collected from the South Sea islands over a hundred years ago. See
http://www.bananas.org/f8/if-you-lik...nge-47082.html When I was a teenager, circa 1960, Garfield Park Conservatory in Chicago had about 5 large clumps growing in their fern room. See https://www.google.com/search?q=Garf...w=1280&bih=635 One winter day, I walked in and all of the H. rubricaulis looked like an elephant sat on them. They never recovered. I asked what happened and was told that there was a heater failure that caused the air temperature to dip to 45 deg. F. during the night. They were the only plants affected. |
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I actually was able to get one of those Heliconia from eBay earlier this season, but unfortunately on the way to Savannah from Hawaii it got lost in Memphis for a week and has been very slow to grow
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Yeah rubricaulis aka indica spectabillis
I plan to get a small greenhouse for some of my plants Either then or a little ikea diy indoor greenhouse |
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I found an article about cold hardy heliconia robusta in this HSI bulletin:
https://bbe7dfdf-9931-424b-9632-6843...00a064e34d.pdf more: https://bbe7dfdf-9931-424b-9632-6843...67f9422150.pdf |
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Variegated Nickriensis has two shoots comin up in the front yard Hot Rio Nites was moved from the backyard to the sunnier front yard last weekend and two clumps are shooting up multiple eyes. The third clump was rotten when I dug it up. Criswick did not make it through the winter despite being the most cold hardy, I suspect it was lack of sunshine that really did it in. Rostrata made it thru the winter with some stalks and leaves intact, so I’m hoping for a bloom. It’s planted in the front and was small enough to be covered. Jamaican dwarf was not as lucky, planted almost right next to rostrata, and I have yet to see any new shoots. Last but not least Fire and Ice were frosted to the ground but almost immediately started sending new shoots. They were also planted in a very shady location, especially during the winter when the sun is low in the sky. |
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Thanks for the update.
Bill |
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Can you give me the name of your Ebay spectabilis seller? I notice that it is available for $85 here: https://hawaiiislandtropicalfarm.com...ca-spectabilis But, I wouldn't buy it until summer because, otherwise, it might get below 45 deg. F. during transit. |
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