My Outdoor Garden-2010

Man I love this pic VG. How long does the flower stay like this? I would like to grow some next year.

I really like the Bird of Paradise!

Its one of my most favorite flowers. I couldn't understand why people kept coming in and ordering carnations and roses and snaps..... when the birds of paradise would outlast all of them and if more beautiful IMHO. keep them cool and hydrated and those flowers will hold for weeks, then just prior to them falling, you can pick them and keep them for another couple weeks after that, more if they are kept in desirable conditions and fed a little . We rooted on at the flower shop once, and the bloom held for almost two months. Until new leaf sets started developing.

Beautiful garden regardless of prior years. Im loving it! Keep em coming man. Thanks

Birds of Paradise, also known as Crane flowers are one of the most beautiful Exotic Flowers. Birds of Paradise are native to South Africa. Birds of Paradise bloom from September through May.
The flowers of the Birds of Paradise resemble a brightly colored bird in flight and so the name Birds of Paradise.
Kingdom Plantae Division Magnoliophyta Class Liliopsida Order Zingiberales Family Strelitziaceae Genus Strelitzia The unusually beautiful shape and brilliant colors of Birds of Paradise have made these flowers not just a designer's favorite, but also a popular symbol of paradise.
The popular Birds-of-Paradise plant bears a unique flower that resembles a brightly colored bird in flight, giving it the common name, Bird of Paradise. The Birds-of-Paradise flowers make the plant an exceptionally attractive landscape plant.
The Birds of Paradise foliage resembles small banana leaves with long petioles. Leaves on the Birds of Paradise plant are arranged strictly in two ranks to form a fan-like crown of evergreen foliage, thick, waxy, and glossy green, making it a very attractive ornamental.
Leaf blades are 6 inches wide and 18 inches long. The Birds of Paradise plant usually reaches a height of 4 feet. Birds of Paradise flowers are produced in a horizontal inflorescence emerging from a stout spathe.
Birds of Paradise flower inflorescence is borne atop long scapes, or pedicels, that grow to 5 feet or more in height. The flower on the Birds of Paradise plant is the most unusual part.
A series of highly colored bracts, or modified leaves, are formed into green, red, and or purplish canoe-like structures. Bracts vary between 4-8 inches long, depending upon the age and size of the Birds of Paradise plant.
Each Birds of Paradise flower is made up of three upright orange sepals and three highly modified vivid blue petals. Two of the petals are joined together in a structure resembling an arrowhead with the third petal forming a nectary at the base of the flower.
Each bract contains 2 or more protruding Birds of Paradise florets of bright yellow or orange elongated petals and a bright blue tongue. The female part of the Birds of Paradise flower is the long extension of the blue tongue, which is extended well away from the stamens.
Pollination in Birds of Paradise

When a pollinator, usually a sunbird, lands on the arrowhead in search of nectar, the anthers are levered clear of the Birds of Paradise flower and deposit pollen on the breast of the bird. When the bird flies to another plant, this pollen is transferred to the stigma of the new flower.
Then the resulting fruit is a leathery capsule containing numerous small seeds, each with an orange aril (an outgrowth from the seed similar to the red sheath around yew seeds) and an oil body, possibly to attract birds.
Facts About Birds of Paradise

• Birds of Paradise are the mid-sized staples of tropical bouquets.
• Birds of Paradise need to be bound together, or supported in some way in larger vases and may bruise smaller flowers.
• Birds of Paradise are often thought of as the symbol of tropical flowers.
• Birds of Paradise are a medium-sized exotic blooms that instantly evoke palm trees, but do not last longer than a week.
• The name Birds of Paradise comes from the spectacular flower shape, which resembles a birds beak and head plumage.
• Because of the banana shaped leaves and other plant characteristics Birds of Paradise was classified in the banana family Musaceae.

Some More Popular Species of Birds of Paradise

• Strelitzia alba/syn. S. augusta - White Birds of Paradise
• Strelitzia caudata/Swaziland Strelitzia - African desert banana
• Strelitzia nicolai - White, or Giant Birds of Paradise; Wild banana
• Strelitzia reginae/S. parvifolia - Strelitzia, Birds of Paradise, or Crane lily

Growing Birds of Paradise

• The soil around Birds of Paradise plant needs to be kept moist all spring and summer but should be allowed to dry out slightly between watering in the fall and winter.
• Try to avoid temperatures below 50 degrees. Birds of Paradise need indoor temperatures.
• Feed your Birds of Paradise every other week during spring and summer with a liquid such as Schultz's Instant Plant Food or a water-soluble fertilizer such as Bachman's Excel-Gro, and a quality peat-based potting soil.
• Cut back to once a month in fall and winter.
• A quality peat-based potting soil such as Bachman's Exceloam is perfect for the Birds of Paradise plant.
• When Birds of Paradise plants are young and actively growing, repot them every spring so that they have plenty of room.
• As the Birds of Paradise mature (and have bloomed for a year or two), they can be carefully divided. Remember that this will keep the plant from blooming again for several years! Birds of Paradise are also propagated from seed.

Birds of Paradise Plant Care

• The Bird of Paradise does require a good amount of sunlight.
• Follow a regular watering schedule during the first growing season to establish a deep, extensive root system for the Birds of Paradise.
• Watering can be reduced after establishment.
• Feed Birds of Paradise plants with a general purpose fertilizer before new growth begins in spring.
• Floral preservative for Birds of Paradise is recommended and is available commercially.

http://www.theflowerexpert.com/content/aboutflowers/exoticflowers/birds-of-paradise

Thanks for the info!

My BoP was in place when we bought this home in 1994.

I cut the frost damaged leaves off each Spring, which doesn't seem to bother it.

It gets a full eight feet tall.

I'd like to separate it into a bunch of plants. The colony seems to contain at least twenty individuals.

It seems so happy, I hate to mess with it.

Can anybody identify this?

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vEGGIE - Things look like they are doing great for you! Your watermelon is doing much better then mine. My cantaloupe completely died out with this odd ball weather. I think it got too cold a few nights, not sure.

Great info on the Birds of Paradise. Looks like I will be giving that a go. Anyway, just wanted to touch base and check in. The weather has finally turned for the better. Things should be really taking off now.

Well... i typed out a whole reply and somehow didn't post it... frustrating.

Anyway...

Triploid is a cell that has three sets of chromosomes in it.

When a plant has three leaves at each node, it is called Whorled Phyllotaxy‎. Or that's what I was taught.

RPsmoke420 said:

Well... i typed out a whole reply and somehow didn't post it... frustrating.

Anyway...

Triploid is a cell that has three sets of chromosomes in it.

When a plant has three leaves at each node, it is called Whorled Phyllotaxy‎. Or that's what I was taught.

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Thanks for that info! I was pretty sure I was misusing the term.

It could be a number of things..... any way you could get a better close up macro shots of the flowers?

These are about the best I can do. The leaves are slightly serrated, and the sexual parts are a very pale yellow. Nearly invisible against the white petals. These are "double" flowers of a common shrub, but I can't remember what the lady called it.

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veggiegardner - your triploid plant...has it shown signs of sex yet? i've had 2 of them and they both turned out male. i believe it's known as whorled phylotaxy. also on mine it was only from the main stalk that it had 3 sites per node, each stem exhibited normal paired branching.

toquer said:

veggiegardner - your triploid plant...has it shown signs of sex yet? i've had 2 of them and they both turned out male. i believe it's known as whorled phylotaxy. also on mine it was only from the main stalk that it had 3 sites per node, each stem exhibited normal paired branching.

Click to expand...

I've had a bunch of these over the years, and some that exhibited four and five leaves per node.

Most of the "3s" turned out male, but so far, all(maybe five total) of the "4s" and "5s" have been female.

This "3" showed a few female flowers as she grew, but remained strongly in veg. To date, I've never seen a hermie with this strain. Very stable.

This plant started very slowly and was atypical in its growth pattern from day one.

I may have a pretty good history built up.
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A few shots from today.

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A perfect day to be a cat.

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Growth is accelerating!

good to hear!

Even better to see

Thanks,

This is very good hobby to save our world and environment. For good result for plant, It is good way to trimming plants time to time, I thing for this seeds you take so many time to getting good results of outdoor plants. This is very nice image of Neville's Haze plant and this strain looking very extremely colorful with orange pistils.

i love the way that plant looks....really badass.....later bro

dam nice garden dude.

Beautiful plants VG

I'm sure enjoying watching this, plenty to learn!

Peace
doublejj

cutman said:

dam nice garden dude.

Click to expand...

Thanks, guys!

I'm posting this both to document my plants' rate of growth but to point out a few other things around the garden.

I retired two years ago with the specific intent of doing my best in my garden.

My wife has been ill for thirty years with various things. She's survived some shit, but has now reached a point where travel isn't possible.

So I garden.

Since it is unlikely that I'll spend any nights elsewhere, I'm presented with the opportunity to give this my full attention. In the previous two years, I've seen dramatic increases in produce and Cannabis yields.

Due to our extremely cool and wet Spring, I'll be happy if I get 60% of last year's yield, but the rapid growth over the last few weeks is encouraging.

If all that is TMI, my apologies.

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I have high hopes for this avocado tree. I eat an avocado every day for breakfast.

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This San Pedro has thrived since I cut it back and transplanted it into this fifteen gallon pot. It has grown several inches in the last two months.

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Ever seen okra bloom?

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The East greenhouse's line up. Slow to start, I think you'll be surprised in October. This greenhouse has produced as much as 58 grams per square foot.

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Three weeks late(after a VERY early bloom), I'll pick my first plum, tomorrow!

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These plants are fairly crowded because I have a very hard time killing a healthy Marijuana plant. It's tough to get an individual shot as they grow together and up. The pic in my signature is a fair example of where this is going.

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Random shots.

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West greenhouse. Rather than growing taller, the last plant, a Bubbleberry X volunteer has begun to rapidly fill out. It has been FIMed multiple times. I wonder if the FIMing has encouraged branching? I've read that it does, but this plant has now been FIMed twice. Could this effect be multiplied? Interesting stuff!

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Everywhere I look, there he is.

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This Rasta was solidly budded and took a long time revegging. I tucked it in among some tomato plants. Cannabis hides well among tomato vines.

Thanks for looking.

Nice garden dude, what's wrong with this afghani x ssh? Weird leaves...

meathook666 said:

Nice garden dude, what's wrong with this afghani x ssh? Weird leaves...

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View attachment 1004150One branch has mutated and is albino. Unusual, but interesting. It will be fun to see what it does.