H. rostrata blooms on previous years growth (usually). If the stalk survived the winter, even if young, it will probably bloom. In Central Fl that is the issue with our cold snaps. Prior to 2008, mine bloomed reliably near a Tabebuia where it was protected, but the winters since then have been too cold. They grow beautifully. I am hopeful this year's crop will bloom as the stalks are well over 6' tall. They LOVE fertilizer! I mean love it! High nitrogen and lots of it.

I know lac1361 very well. Great guy, great grower. He has had great success with the portable greenhouse. I use one too, but not for rostrata. My own personal rule of thumb is, if it will flower reliably in a container and isn't "really" hardy in my area, I keep it in a container. But that's just my personal preference. If you are planning on protecting it to that extent, then by all means, you will probably have success as well. I planted some out as an experiment 3-4 years ago. They have gone to the ground every winter but always come back up. This last winter, we only had a SINGLE night that brought them down! But that one night was 23F. If not for that one night, I'd probably be looking at a few blooms right now, LOL. I know Steve got a bloom on his Pedro Ortiz this summer.

That glaucus sheath makes me think that its not Rostrata. I haven't ever observed that on any of mine. The only heliconia I have ever seen it on was one of those weird ones I had that died...one of the "Moon" series (Full Moon, Rising Moon etc)...I couldn't spell the name then and can't now...amegdyliana or something close to that. There are not a whole lot of heliconias that have any sort of glaucus coloration. Most if they are not all green have reddish/maroon sheaths. The stalks should be all green, perhaps with some red markings (this varies widely). The other weird thing is the way the new leaves are coming out of the stalk. The way they are so tightly curled and pointing over and down says "banana" to me. I guess you have to just wait and see.

Hi I made a mistake of planting in the shadehouse. They grow right through the roof. No matter how much digging I've done they still come back. I planted some among a cluster of white BOP.outdoors Does hold them up but looks so odd as the flowers lean over the BOP. Not surprisingl the flowers in the shadehouse are bigger, brighter, and far more vigorous . Maybe because I regularly water and fertilize the epiphtes in there??lol In Costa Rica they were growing them over a wire tunnel that you could walk through. Flowers hung down into the tunnel . Seemed like a great idea but my whole grow area is only 35x50. There's always the dwarfs??? gary