http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/MG106 http://www.clemson.edu/charleston/local/bird/brdpards.htm http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/MG/MG10600.pdf ( I just came back from San Diego. BOPs, and GBOPS with many feet of trunk, were everywhere, almost like weeds, and flowering, along with the Bougainvillea. )

The white one, Strelitzia nicolai, is less cold tolerant than the other common one, Strelitzia reginae. But it should come back when the weather warms up. The white one also gets much taller, although Ballarat weather will probably regularly trim it down, LOL.

" but since we are in a drought here, we only water for 2 or 3 minutes every few days." This type of watering routine will keep barely anything other than the most drought tolerant species alive! With an automatic sprinkler system, you are losing a good portion of the water emitted to evaporation, as much as 50%......and it really doesn't matter what time of day the system turns on. And with a big, leafy plant like the Strelitzia, you can bet 90% of the of water NOT lost to evaporation is not hitting the root system - water just on the leaves is not a viable substitute for that. In short, your watering routine is likely not delivering anything of value to the plant in terms of needed moisture. Reprogram your sprinkler system so that the water comes on less frequently but for a longer duration. Can't tell you exactly how long - you will have to do some testing to determine a correct interval, but you want any irrigation water to penetrate as deeply into the soil profile as possible, at least 6-8", more if possible. Or use the hose on a slow trickle left in place at the base of the plant. Again, the length of time will be determined by how well and how fast the water percolates through the soil. And once a week should be more than adequate for any plant well established in the landscape, perhaps less often for very drought tolerant species.. For a state that is suffering from an extended drought situation, I am amazed at how inefficient and wasteful most CA watering practices are! I am not an irrigation contractor but I am a landscape designer and certified horticulturist and DO know how plants should be watered and I could make a fortune redesigning CA irrigation systems to deliver water more efficiently and with less waste. Pop-up sprinkler systems are fine for lawns (provided they are programmed correctly.......and few are) but they are a waste of time, money and a valuable and precious natural resource when used for regular landscape plantings. Investigate converting your system to a drip or low emission system for all the landscape plantings. And remember that low and slow or less frequent but longer watering periods will provide much better results.

I think the white flowering Bird of paradise is more of a purely foliage plant indoors and does an outstanding job in that aspect. Moreover, the white flowers aren't much to fancy IMHO. They do get big but they are constrained by the pot and the indoor growing conditions so I don't think they will be bursting through the roof. Here is a pic of mine. It came along with me from a rental apartment. The landlord said he would trash it if I wasn't interested taking it along with me. For the longest time I thought it was a foliage plant. Then I discovered that it was a bird of paradise. I spent a couple of years trying to give it enough light including outdoors on a balcony to coax it to bloom. It just made the plant raggedy, the wind messing up the leaves. Eventually I realized it was the giant one which wasn't going to flower in that conditions I could provide. I am happy thinking of it as foliage only houseplant again.