I've been thinking about heliconia in AZ a bit more and it seems that the big issue is that it may be so hot and dry here that the plant literally gets its moisture sucked right out of it through its leaves. Being a plant from humid conditions, its probably too "wide open" when it comes to transpiration, and would explain why your had withered off once they started to leaf out. So the trick would be to create a microclimate that reduces this evaporation/transpiration as much as possible. I got the idea that this spot at the Zoo was doing just that, since it was under tree and bamboo canopy, and was located near an area that has water draining to it, if not even lightly standing. (Rostrata btw, is one heliconia that can take some occasional standing water) There are a few tricks that come to mind that could help create a heliconia-friendly zone: 1) Overhead/side canopy that cuts down the hot sun significantly, and creates a trap for moist air. I'm getting the feeling that the sun is so intense in AZ that its really not necessary to have a heliconia exposed to much more than dappled sun. 2) A good source of air moisture to minimize transpiration and keep local humidity up- a mister system immediately comes to mind. I was standing under a mister at Home Depot the other day, landing on some hibiscus in next to full sun- the "feeling" in that area around the misters was alot closer to my backyard in Florida than the rest of the nursery- so I got the impression a heliconia would like that type of environment. I think that overwatering shouldnt be an issue with a mister so long as a good draining mix is used. Other ideas would be to have a large body of water nearby- for example a pool, water fountain, stream, etc. 3) A good mulch. In florida I use cypress mulch, oak leaf litter, pine bark nuggets, stuff like that. It forms a good layer of decomposing loose material on top that traps in alot of moisture. Here in AZ I have mostly seen people using "gro-mulch" but I'm not sure that will be enough- the heli I saw at the zoo was planted in a good layer of leaf litter from trees and bamboo- it was decomposing and had a nice swamp-ish black/brown color going. 4) Perhaps experiment with an anti-transpirant such as WILT-PRUF to help keep moisture in the plant. Wilt-pruf sprays on with a hand sprayer, and forms a natural mositure barrier on the plant surface. Its derived from pine trees. I've used it with success to protect delicate plants from Florida's dry/cold winter season. It also works well on rooting cuttings to prevent moisture loss. It might help a heliconia in this situation once it leafs out a bit.

Even in Venice Beach the Alpinia purpurata is not winter hardy, and won't even like the typical night time temps in summer. This one is a true ultra tropical that only blooms in California if greenhouse grown. Near the beach, as you are, I would think that Hedychium gardnerianum is likely to do very well in full sun as long as it gets good year round water, especially in hot spells. The viviperous Ginger you have is probably Hedychium greenei, which is orange red in bloom and does create new offsets from the old flower stalks, and is not fragrant. I don't know what that particular Heliconia species will want in your location, as it is a species that isn't hardy enough to grow here in the SF Bay Area. I have seen this growing in full sun in the tropics, so I think it would do okay with full morning sun or dappled sun. It will want your warmest most protected conditions to get through winter, and may need to be grown as a container plant and given protection in winter to get it to actually bloom. The more heat you can give it in the growing season, the more likely you are to see it bloom.

We just use a (clean) shovel- find a spot on the mother plant that will be easy to get to donor- it should have at least one mother stem and a decent sized (12 in) baby stem. Then place the shovel between the mother plant and donor plant and quickly and cleaning step on the shovel to separate them. Then dig the roots around the donor and pull it out. If I can get a root ball and not bother the roots too much, it is better. As long as it has roots and some green stem/leaves, treat it like a plant. If it doesn't have roots, cut the stem and treat it like a rhizome (in a pot, little water until you see growth).

Hi- Not that I am an expert in anyway, but this might get you started... The rostata may set seed (if you have hummingbirds). With heliconias, the seed will be in the colorful part of the flower- it will probably stick out a bit. It is ready to pick when it is blueberry blue. Wipe the blue part away, plant the whitish seed inside right away. It will take months to sprout. I have not tried rostrata seeds yet, but have a number of seedlings from other varieties, so it is possible. Heliconia seeds are most viable the fresher they are. I have had a lot of luck with ginger seeds too. The gingers will set seed- where the seeds are located depends on the variety. Torch ginger seed pods are easy to see, (big pods right on the flower head), other types you have to look around inside the dead flower for them. Of the 4 varieties I have tried, all have sprouted in 1 month. I assume fresher is better, but I tried 1 type after the flower head was dried and they still sprouted. Hope this helps, Gwenn