Does it grow huge leaves, the size of incredibly healthy bananas but less trashy? And do the flowers form in the interior, making them hard to see unless you cut them and bring them in the house? Is it about 10 ft high?

I ask, not because I have any idea what you have, but I'm wondering if you have what I have. And if it is, and anyone has some suggestions on care, I'd be appreciative. I love the flowers, even though they're mostly hidden inside the plant. I bring them in. Some more than a foot high.

Any advice out there? How do I keep it happy? And what's the proper way to prune it. It seems to have a lot of dead stuff in the middle. (Mine is probably covering a 20 square foot area between my neighbor's yard and mine, mostly in my yard.)

Advice from the experts out there?

Cherie, this is my Iris Banocchie for reference:

I don't really know what Bucky looks like, but maybe someone will chime in. Something tells me they are quite similar? Yours is quite beautiful.

Natives, I do little to keep my heliconias happy. They get watered once weekly with the sprinklers, and I usually just give them alfalfa pellets once or twice a year and maybe grass clippings/oak leaves/ or coffee grounds when I get around to it. Remember that once a stalk blooms, it will eventually die, so you can just cut it off at ground level to keep the clump tidy looking. I think they look better and show off the colorful bracts better when they are thinned out. I find heliconias need more maintenance than most plants in my yard, but they are so pretty, they are well worth it.

Anna

I think too many Heliconias are very similar, that unless you see them in person they are hard to tell apart. I don't think yours looks like Iris, too much green on the lip and the flower shape is different - nor does it look like Bucky.

In person Iris and Bucky are easily distinguishable, the reds are very different colors, which doesn't get capture in a photo. Bucky is also taller and imo, the leaves are prettier with a silvery look to the stalks.

Here's my Iris:
{{gwi:850367}}

and I am pretty sure that this is Bucky:
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Might be Stricta Firebird. Doesn't look like Bucky.

Steve

How tall does it get? Have you considered Halloween?

Thanks all,
I bought it a long time ago, never marked it and forgot what it was called. Firebird sounds familiar, Halloween does not. It currently is getting very tall, about 10' but I think it is stretching to reach the light, it did not get that tall before the trees around it started filling in.

I need to dig up, divide and move it. I will have some available at Ricky's swap, now that I know the name, at least I am pretty sure I bought it as Firebird.

Cherie

Heliconia Stricta Huber