Re: heliconias
 

Not trying to answer for Brent but..........
They should grow well over in Houston if you get the more hardy varieties. Heliconia Scheideana is more hardy than any of the others. Thanks to Steve's advice I am growing H. rostrata, H. angusta 'Red Christmas', and H. latispatha 'Orange Gyro'. We are a little colder here than Houston and these will survive OK if protected. Don't get too excited about blooms though. You will have to keep them from getting burned by frost. We had a warmer winter than normal last year and the H. rostrata almost made it through without any protection. It is growing strong now and if we by chance have another mild winter it may bloom next year. The Orange Gyro has surprised me the most. It kept trying to grow during winter and is by far more vigorous than the others that I have.

Re: heliconias
 

Guess I should mention that in spite of a mild winter we did have a record breaking snow storm. On the day it snowed the temp did not go below 31F. But the dew point that morning was also 31F, so the snow stuck and piled up. The lowest temp we had last winter was 28F at my house. The Orange Gyro (to the right) has since been moved.

Re: heliconias
 

Hard to believe anything survived.



Here it is now. A shot directly across from the first picture.

Re: heliconias
 

What are those maroon and burgundy plants in front of the heliconia?

Re: heliconias
 

Those are Ti plants. I have a few different ones. They sailed through winter with no problems to my surprise. Here they are the same day as the snow. Most of it had melted when the picture was taken. It did not get heavy here b/c it's under the eve of the house.


And here it is later in spring.


And more recently.

Re: heliconias
 

They grow great in the summer here in Houston. The problem is overwintering them. They don't like our cool, wet winters and if you dig them up and bring them in the house you are almost guaranteed to have to wage war agains spider mites all winter long. If you can protect their stalks from freezing during the winter (by wrapping or possibly piling mulch around them) then you stand a chance of getting a bloom. So far, the only heliconia that has bloomed for me is my Heliconia psittacorum. Home Depot often sell these this time of year at a very reasonable price.

Re: heliconias
 

Up dated pic in my photo gallery....

Re: heliconias
 

Well, I am finally happy to report that you were right SteveL!!! My psittacorum came back strong and is blooming like it usually does!!! Here are a couple of pics!!!

Re: heliconias
 

Good job Randy. Your plant looks very happy.

Steve

Re: heliconias
 

Ok Randy...I'm jelous! What do you do with it in the winter????

Re: heliconias
 

Jack, I have had this plant in this pot for three years now. Every fall I bring it into my den and it continues to bloom til about Thanksgiving. The first two years, I used a large humidifier in the den and it did fairly well. Last winter I didn't and it suffered. It completely died back to the soil and I thought I lost it. Well, once it went outside, the crazy thing started growing and hasn't stopped. The biggest problem I had with this plant, like many other plants that are grown inside, was spider mites. I will be sure to keep the humidifier going all winter this year!!!! I have taken a couple of divisions off it in sprintime, and it fills in quickly!!!
If you don't have one of these heliconias, you gotta get one!!!

Re: heliconias
 

You are going to hate me for this but I couldn't resist!!! I'm with Lorax - most have to be severely confined even if they are not travellers.

SouthLA - that is a pretty pink and white heliconia in the foreground of your photo - unusual colors!

Re: heliconias
 

I would love one of those....unfortunetley,cant find one anywhere here...I guess I will just have to admire yours......

Re: heliconias
 

LOL, Cass! They are definitely strictly contained in my gardens.... The other thing that really irks folks here is when we mention that these are weeds they're growing. If I had a dime for every heliconia I've had to pull up, I'd have enough to buy ice cream for the entire board....

Jack, if you're really pining for a heliconia, I can keep my eyes open for seeds.

Re: heliconias
 

I'm growing 5 varieties in the ground but being in Zone 9, they stop growing from Nov. to March so they are not quite as invasive as in the tropics. Most of mine however are in containers. That doesn't necessarily mean they behave themselves though as some of the medium size and large size heliconia can easily grow enough in one summer to bust out of a 20 gallon pot. The Strictas seem to be big time runners and I've eliminated all but one of that varitey and it's in a pot. Most others seem to only only need cleaning out every 2 years here for me.

Steve

Re: heliconias
 

I've found that the worst offenders are the 'platanillo' type ones - they get very tall, which means that seed dispersion is over a wider area, and they also run. Bijao (H. bihai) in particular is highly invasive and a fast runner.

Re: heliconias
 

I attempted to grow several Bihai, Caribaea, and Bihai/Caribaea crosses (Jacquinii) and gave up. They just needed way to large of a container and got too heavy to put in the greenhouse during the winter. I am currently trying Richmond Red and so far it has behaved itself. Might even get a bloom in the spring.


Steve

Re: heliconias
 

I attempted to grow several Bihai, Caribaea, and Bihai/Caribaea crosses (Jacquinii) and gave up. They just needed way to large of a container and got too heavy to put in the greenhouse during the winter. I am currently trying Richmond Red and so far it has behaved itself. Might even get a bloom in the spring.


Steve

Re: heliconias
 

Best of luck! I have never attempted to grow Bijao outside of the ground, but I can imagine that it would fill even a large pot rather quickly given its growth rate. However, a zone 9 winter shouldn't be enough to kill Bijao in the ground as long as you mulch it well - you don't routinely get snow, do you?

Re: heliconias
 

We get snow about every 20 years. We get several mild freezes though and that seems to be just enough cold to stunt the mature growth on the heliconia, which in spring, usually terminate. New growth then appears and the cycle starts over. Occasionally, with a mild winter, I'll have a few undamaged stalks of Rostrata, Pedro Ortiz, Scheideana and Latispatha Orange which will bloom. With a little protection, and lows no lower than 28, I can get all of the stalks to survive but it's a pain in the arse.

Steve