We've been fairly lucky, in that mosquitoes seem to be scarce this year... last year, they were horrible! However, we have biting flies, biting gnats, earwigs, crickets, slugs, snails, voracious caterpillars, grasshoppers, Japanese beetles, ladybug look-alikes, and lots of poison ivy! Last year, we had ticks of all sizes, in vast amounts! We also had fleas, chiggers, and some sort of mite that hatched along with the cicadas! Since most of our rain was earlier in the season, I think it made a difference in which insects are around now. I've had to use the soaker hoses and sprinklers this past week, for the first time this year! It's very dry right now. Since I'm soaking the gardens, the moles or voles or shrews have become active again, and there's lots of lawn and garden damage. The only bulbs I have outdoors are a pot of Sprekelia, and a pot of Lycoris radiata. Everything else is indoors. I did bring my Mandevilla vine out, and I had to bring out the Mother-In-Laws-Tongue to repot it, so I left it out to catch a few rays before it needs to come in for the cold weather. Knock on wood, but nothing seems interested in attacking the Sprekelia or Lycoris... not since the young seed pods were eaten off the Sprekelia earlier this year, anyway. I'm very interested to hear how your foliar feeding experiment goes, Pat! I've often wondered if the hippis would benefit from a misting with a dilute fertilizer water every once in a while.

I'm not certain what time of the year it was that I planted them but it was soon after they were produced. I'm guessing it may have been in the late summer. All I recall was that I planted the seeds soon after I got them and they all germinated and are now nice tall plants. I kept the pots on the concrete patio and I think bottom heat from the warm concrete may have helped them germinate. I'm hoping for flowers this summer. The seeds were from the Heleconia schneeana at the Huntington where they are mass-planted. I guess the darn seeds must fall off and get caught in my pant cuffs.....

I've been over wintering heliconia for several years. I have a 14 x 16 greehouse. I only use it during the winter to protect the container grown tropicals. The greenhouse is heated with a natural gas heater. You need to provide some source of humidity if using this method. Spider mites and mealy bugs love the hot dry environment. I use a soaker hose on a timer to provide humidity. The temporary greenhouse you are contemplating should work. If you could move the Rostrata in and out during times of moderate weather, it would help a great deal. I have also over wintered Rostrata and another heliconia, Pedro Ortiz, on my enclosed covered patio. It worked just fine. Steve

After spending many thousands on tropical plants, I now found by far the best supplier. The prices are 50%-75% less than anyone else. The quality is many times greater than anyone else. You have to have a $200 minimum order, but the selection is so vast it is easy to spend that. You have to go to a website in Thailand first called Plant Group. You e-mail what you want and they tell you if they have it in the Big Island Hawaii location to ship to the U.S. You can e-mail Trish at Filimoehala@hawaiiantel.net and I can send you more information to contact the manager in Hawaii directly. I was so happy with the plants from them I can't say enough great things about them and I would love to help them in any way I can. They had everything I wanted, cut them nicely and labeled them well.