Name: Guatemalan bird of paradise
Botanical name: Heliconia subulata
Description: A small heliconia from Central and South America, it grows from Guatemala to Paraguay, through Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia, according to the online Global Biodiversity Information Facility. The flower bracts are red and contain the flowers, which are lemon yellow with lime-green tips. In spite of its common name, this heliconia isn't a true bird of paradise, which is in the genus Strelitzia.
Jesse Durko, who used to grow these at his Davie nursery, says this heliconia has an unusual growth habit: it produces flower stalks about three feet tall this time of year, but they grow progressively taller throughout the summer so they reach about five feet or more in the fall. They are ever-blooming, he says.
Height: 3 to 6 feet, usually about 5
Light: sun to light shade
Culture: Heliconias do well with moderate or even light amounts of water if you mulch them. They like organic matter, so you can enrich the planting area. These herbaceous plants grow on rhizomes, sending up shoots laterally. A controlled-release palm fertilizer is good for these plants, applied two or three times a year. Or top dress with compost a couple of times a year. When the clump becomes too thick, dig and cut back the rhizomes.
