Hello everyone, So sorry I have been lazy with responding to this thread. I hope you all haven't lost interest yet. I had my 2nd back surgery on the 15th and I am still recovering. I was told that I couldn't ride in a car for 1 week and not drive for 2. Well last night it was just getting to me too muc hand I had to get out of the house!! I have to admit, I had good intentions to begin with....a short ride to Walmart where I was just going to stay in the car but then we ended up going to a friends house which really was only about 10 minutes further away from Walmart. We went in and hung out for about 45 minutes. I had a heck of a time trying to fall asleep last night. For some reason not only was I really sore(more so than I had been) but the skin around the incisions felt like it was going to tear open! So, around 7:30am I went intothe bathroom and took a peak in the mirror. I couldn't believe it! It looks like I have a goose egg the size of an orange! It's right on the upper incision. So now I know I over did it and I will have to really lie low until this swelling goes down. All of you guys are awesome people and truly great friends of mine. I just felt bad because I asked for help and your opinions and I didn't want any of you to think I didn't give a crap to check back and see what you all had posted. Hello Toni, Wow I have missed you!! I will get a picture this time around. I promise! Right now the spikes are still small...under 6 inches. They are growing pretty fast now though and I also noticed that the tips of the actual buds are a bright orange which is a good sign that all is well! I mention this because last year my BOP produced 2 spikes but then right before the buds opened, something happened and the buds aborted:( I also wanted to tell you that the original BOP that I got my rhizome from blooms at least 5 or 6 times a year. Now, they also put them outdoors in the spring and leave them there pretty much until fall. Sometimes I have seen them back in the shop by the cash registers. Now how's that for advertising!! Now I know that my BOP would flower more BUT each rhozime will only produce 2 flower spikes(at the size mine is anyhow), so until mine gets larger or produces more offsets, I sadly wont see anymore flower spikes. I know I know, I should just be greatfull and I am trust me! It took me MANY years to get to this point! HEllo Mr. Mike! Please never feel bad for not getting right back to me! You and I are in similiar boats right now and trust me, I know how it feels! Look how long it took me to repond to my own posting LOL!! I would be willing to bet money on this...if you were to come across a blooming BOP and you were able to get it, you would be able to get it to rebloom with no problems!! That's how it was for me anyhow! Now I did mention to Toni that I lost the flowers last year but that was the one and only time that ever happened. When I bought mine I want to say it was somewhere around the summer months of June, July or August. It was at it's full glory right then. Those flowers were spectacular and I couldn't believe how long they lasted! I want to say it was either close to a month or just over a month. Anyhow, after it finnished blooming, I put it oudoors in full sun. I fertilized it with a fert that I had that was comparable to a fert that you would use for banana trees..Toni also had mentioned this to me before..THANKS TONI! Anyhow, that fert was a slow release and then I also gave it the FP. I brought it in for the fall and within a month or 2 guess what! MORE BLOOMS!! I really want to see you succeed with a BOP Mike(all of you, Toni and Laura!). They are so rewarding to me. The tropical foliage is great to have during the cold bleak winter months. If you could find one, BUY IT! I know your going to say that it is a space issue...totally understandable so you know what you do then? Throw out the dud(LMAO!)!! Yeah I know it isn't always easy to do. I had my 1st BOP for well over 10 years and honestly, I got to the point where I started getting angry. I knew I was doing everything right and to see it not blooming, it just made me dissapointed and angry. If you really want one Mike, I can help you locate one. Take care and please take care of that foot! Hi Laura, Like I mentioned above, I will get a picture of it now and then I will get pics of it blooming. Have you ever seen any BOP at your garden centers? I know it would be too cold for them there to live year round. I don't even think they would survive if you protected them with those heat cables. Again, just like I told Mike the secret(to me anyhow) is finding one that is blooming. I will NEVER waste my money(and sanity..LMAO!) on buying a BOP from a grocery store, or anywhere unless it was blooming. I went to Potratz in Erie PA, which is this AWESOME humungous garden center, nursery. They carry all kinds of cool tropicals. In fact, they will even special order just about anything I want for me. One time I was out there and they had an awesome BOP. IT probobly had 6 or 7 rhizomes in one pot. The BOP stood at around 5ft tall. I knew that I didn't have to check out the price tag, I knew they were going to charge an arm and a leg....the price? $300!!!!!!! I couldn't freakin believe it! I thought "Are you kidding me?!" Thankfully I found mine about a year or so later. Thanks again guys for helping me out. Take care and as soon as this swelling goes down, I promise to get a pic. Andrew

There is a narrow leaf bird of paradise but I am unsure as to the botanic name. The name Strelitzia parvifolia juncea is confusing. The narrow leaf & no leaf (as pictured above) supposedly comes under that category but they look completely different. The narrow leaf appears to be more uncommon. I have also seen all but the Strelitzia caudata on eBay. The standard orange & mini orange is sometimes found on the seed trading forum. There is also a Giant White variegated bird of paradise. There are reports online regarding some breeders developing a variegated no leaf. If you ever purchase Strelitzia reginae 'Mandelas Gold', make sure the seller knew the source or knew they were correctly hand pollinated. Seeds need to come from a yellow crossed with a yellow. If a yellow crossed with an orange, the orange dominates. If the S Ã kewensis is a hybrid between S. reginae (Standard orange) and S. augusta (Giant White), that should be possible here in the states. I can not find pictures, but it appears as if cultivation has stopped: http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/ksheets/bop.html In 1909, S. x kewensis, a hybrid between S. reginae and S. alba, flowered at Kew for the first time, producing pale watery yellow flowers. Unfortunately it now seems to have disappeared from cultivation. A related plant in the Strelitzia family is the travelerÂs palm as well as dwarf varieties. To add to your confusion, there is the Mexican bird of paradise. These are different plants, & are caesalpina rather than Strelitzia.

Hi again CC, errrrr, yes 'tis me from the palm forum, and plumeria forum also. Firstly, I think and hope they look like 'regular' twins as opposed to 'Siamese' ones, that WOULD be unusual for sure!! I have no idea if this is a regular occurence as I honestly don't know a great deal about BoP's. Maybe it's pushing out 2 leaves as it's well fed and happy? Have always admired them and been somewhat envious of folks that grow them. This was a puny little guy of less than 9inches with sickly yellow leaves that I've nursed back to health from the £1 reject trolley in a DIY store. Taken me several years to get it to around 5ft and now its rewarding me with the promise of flowers. My Washy R's are doing well thanks, most have 6 leaves and they are just beginning to divide. Jay's and Topher's have already passed that stage it seems, I need more sun and heat really as the weather here for July is not good, just had thunder and torrential rain...again. They grow real fast, much faster than my other seed sown plams I find. Told to pot on when roots show as they will put on much more growth in bigger pots. Regards, Gill.

I believe you also posted this question on the banana.org forum and I responded to that post. I seriously doubt Strelitzia reginae will make it in your area no matter where you plant it. It needs lots of sun, no shade. My winter was very cold this year, one of those "once every 20 year winters" we experience on the Gulf Coast and it was killed to the ground at 20. Below 20 is fatal. It is coming back but is very weak at this point. And I won't get blooms this year since it was killed to the ground. My white bird planted next to the orange that was 15 feet tall is completely dead. The orange is only slightly more cold hardy that the white. Steve