heliconia dinosaur

Eric gave me this hybrid, Heliconia pogonantha x mariae 'Dinosaur' about a month ago. It is also commonly referred to as the Heliconia Dinosaur. It is, as its name suggests, one of the largest heliconias around which can grow several metres tall and produces large and impressive pendulous blooms. Eric decided to discard his collection because he thought they were ugly and a bitch to maintain and cut down due to its highly fibrous trunk.

I on the other hand, am easily excited by anything wild and exotic, so taking in his castaways seemed like the right thing to do. So far, one of the rhizomes has started to shoot. Hopefully the other would follow suit.

the Heliconia

Pop by any florist around the world and you are likely to see at least one species of heliconia displayed on sale. This is hardly surprising given the fact the heliconia is indeed one of the most stunning flowers to have emerged in the florist trade. It's striking hues and exotic form explains why it often ends up taking centrestage in any tropical floral arrangement. In fact, the heliconia is probably the most celebrated icon of all tropical plants. (the others being the ginger and the banana)

I have a couple of heliconias in my collection but not all of them seem to be doing well. Like the bananas, they grow well after it has been established and when this happens, they can get rather aggressive, especially those which have runners. This explains why I tend to prefer those that clump. Large heliconias tend to require more space and are fairly tolerant where light is concerned. However, they are fairly heavy feeders and will require moist soil with a high clay content to do well. 

The ones which give me constant blooms are the H. Sexy Pink, the H. bihai 'Lobster Claw 1' and the H. guadaloupe. The others which are surviving but don't appear to be blooming anytime soon are the H. Sexy Orange, H. Caribaea purpurea, H. angusta 'Holiday' , H. indica 'Striata' and H. bihai 'Yellow Dancer'. 

The one pictured here was taken from a friend's garden and it is the extremely rare H. solomonensis.  

Longiflora and Longicornutum

There are two species of plants that I have been dying to get my hands on. One of them is the Heliconia longiflora while the other is the Hedychium longicornutum.

A few clumps of the former can be found at the ginger gardens in the Singapore Botanic Gardens. (See pictures above). However, this is not a very common species and doesn't seem to be available for sale online. I have also not seen this in any nursery in Singapore other than the one at Ang Mo Kio, but those were not for sale. Even if they were, they would be exorbitant as AMK is known to have quite the reputation for ridiculous prices. Hopefully the financial crisis might compel them to rethink their pricing. A collector I know has a small clump for sale but it doesn't look particularly healthy. Although he has asked me to name my price, I declined. (I tend to lose interest very quickly when people do that) But I will not give up and will continue to press on with my pursuit for this plant, even if it means waiting indefinitely.

I first chanced upon the Hedychium longicornutum at Woon Leng but it was also not for sale. It belonged to a private collector who leased the premises to house his plants. Like the Helicona longiflora, this species does not appear to have made it to the commercial nurseries nor is it available online. It is however endemic to Thailand and Malaysia, so a trip to the nurseries there or even Chatuchak might be in the pipeline.

The Hedychium longicornutum is probably the only epiphytic ginger known to man. It is also by far one of the most beautiful and exotic Hedychiums around. Although it is epiphytic in nature, it apparently grows better in a pot with general potting mix as opposed to just being attached to a branch.