PerennialsThe bird of paradise is a striking tropical plant with sturdy, blue-green, banana-like leaves and spectacular flowers resembling the head of an exotic bird. The blooms combine vivid orange sepals with sky-blue petals and appear almost year-round. An architectural showpiece as a container plant.
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Characteristics
- Sun
- Full sun
- Water
- Medium
- Height
- 100–150 cm
- Spread
- 60–100 cm
- Hardiness zone
- 9–12
- Family
- Strelitziaceae
- Evergreen
- Yes
- Flower colors
- orange, blue
- Wildlife value
- birds, bees
Bloom period
Care guide
Place in a sunny, warm and sheltered spot. Keep the soil evenly moist during the growing season. Reduce watering in winter. Feed fortnightly from April to September. Overwinter in a bright location above 5°C. Only flowers after several years once the plant is sufficiently mature.
Pruning tips
Remove spent flower stalks at the base. Cut away yellowed or damaged leaves. No further pruning is needed. The plant gradually forms a clump that can be divided every few years.
Good companions
ShrubsHibiscus rosa-sinensis
Chinese Hibiscus
Chinese hibiscus is a tropical shrub with glossy dark green foliage and large, funnel-shaped flowers in fiery red, pink or orange that can appear year-round. Each flower lasts only one day, but the plant continuously produces new buds. As a container plant it brings tropical flair to terraces and conservatories.
PerennialsPhormium tenax
New Zealand Flax
New Zealand flax is a vigorous evergreen plant with long, sword-shaped, stiffly upright leaves that create a spectacular architectural statement. Cultivars come in green, bronze, red and striped forms. At maturity a tall flower stalk appears with dark red tubular flowers that attract birds. A showpiece in modern and coastal gardens.
PerennialsAgave americana
Century Plant
The century plant is an imposing rosette-forming succulent with broad, blue-green, sharply pointed leaves reaching up to two metres in length. The plant grows for decades before flowering once with a spectacular, multi-metre tall flower stalk — after which the mother plant dies, leaving behind offsets. As an architectural focal point it fits perfectly in modern and Mediterranean gardens.
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