"plenty of rostrata. If you can pick up in Tampa I can load you up".... does this mean someone in Tampa wants to give away some lobster claw???..... I am in Tampa! I would love to have a lobster claw! ... crossing fingers I have not miss read.

Southern Peas are 99% self-pollinating before they open so you won't get what you are looking for with bees in a screen cage. They are easy to hand pollinate. I have a bunch in my greenhouse now just a few days away from harvesting the pods. In a greenhouse or a garden, you have to emasculate the flower a day before it opens. Then the next morning take pollen from a freshly opened flower and pollinate the emasculated flower. In a garden, you will need to cover the stigma with a straw or tape the flower closed to prevent unwanted pollen being transferred. In two days you will know if the cross took as the pod starts to grow. Contact me if you have any questions. Here's a great link detailing the pollination technique. I recommend a headband magnifer from Ebay to help see what you are doing when it comes to snipping off the anther sacs. Here is a link that might be useful: Hand pollinating Cowpeas

Great thanks! I don't mind the heliconia getting knocked back every couple of years when we have freezes, but they need to be robust enough to actually come back and bloom in the years when there was no freeze. I have what is supposedly the yellow variant of rostrata that I brought back from the northshore and it was 100% reliable there, but it never bloomed. It hates the lake wind here and dies back severely after a wind storm in the winter, even if it stays above 40. I moved it to a very protected spot, and if this winter turns out to be as warm as they say it will be, it will be that plant's last chance. I may put it up for adoption next spring. I have a Maya Blood rhizome that is rooting up a storm but hasn't pushed any green yet. If rostrata gets the shovel, I may replace it with Pedro Ortiz. Perhaps if I tell it I am going to shovel it, it will get its act together. It worked for the peach tree, the lime tree and a few roses that were misbehaving. =) Evenie

Hi Guys, I am another unfortunate person with a Heliconia craving in a bloody cold area. I have the same climate as coastal Sydney. I'm at the coast of Taree NSW and have below 2C-3C throughout the winter with the odd -1C. Also we have to watch our summers heatwaves with peaks of 47C (last Tuesday). Heliconias are possible, but only with a lot of effort. Protect your plant from cold wind as this can chill the stem causing the plant to die back to the ground. They may handle the air temperature, but wind chill will get them every time. Also Heliconias in our area must have excellent drainage. We are a winter rain area and this is dangerous for Heliconias. I've gone through 40 varieties to find the best ones for me. CoralCoast_Tropicals is right; H. subulata, H. spissa and H. schiedeana are the easiest. They are smaller and easier to protect from strong winds. H. subulata can take the most exposure, but H. schiedeana is supposed to be the most cold tolerant even taking light frost???(IÂve not tested this). Another excellent Heliconia and my favourite is Heliconia bourgaeana cv Hot Pink. I've had mine in the ground for 4 year. It has flowered as far south as Gosford that I know off. Also Heliconia latispatha cv. Orange gyro is pretty tough and very easy to flower. If you can handle spotty leaves then Heliconia rostrata is working out. I've talked to someone who flowered it in Ulladulla south coast NSW. It works because for us southerner it grows to only 1.5m high and so is easy to put in the right microclimate. The leaves will be spotty through the winter, but the plants flowers fairly reliably in SydneyÂs Northern Beaches. In flower it is stunning and worth the effort. Scot what was the variety that you bought?