Sunday, August 25, 2002		Garden Life

They have lovely flowers & foliage
Satish Narula

A few weeks ago, we introduced you to the ornamental bromeliads, a close relative of the lovely ananas. As they are valued for their foliage and floral beauty, so are the heliconias, close relatives and allies of the delicious fruit—the banana.

One of the few ornamental species of plants that are valued both for the flowers and foliage, the heliconias grow well in our climatic conditions. Like the cana, these are also rhizomatous plants, with a ginger-like root system). The leaves may be like the banana, a few feet long, or like the strelitzia, the Bird of Paradise. The leaves are leathery and medium to deep green and in certain species can be brown and wooly beneath. The mid-rif of the leaf in some species can be pale or maroon and so can be the petiole (the extension that joins leaf with main stem).

What is most spectacular about the heliconias are the blooms. These may be erect or pendulous. The blooms, in fact, are small in size though these have brilliantly coloured, showy sepals, the outer scales in contrasting colours. But what is most attractive are the showy bracts that are also brilliantly coloured. These flowers and the bracts may appear and be arranged in spiral fashion or in two opposite rows. The bracts appear in a wide range of red, yellow, orange and maroon with green tips. These flowers (and bracts) last quite long and are good cut flowers that can be kept in a vase at room temperature for a fortnight.

The heliconias look good when grown as border or specimen plants. They make very good pot plants too. The plants have to be saved from frost and harsh sunlight. These plants do very well under semi-shade conditions. These are perennials. Like similar foliage plants like the banana, Bird of Paradise, cana, traveller's palm etc, its foliage too has to be protected against strong winds.

The heliconias need plenty of water during the summer or growing season. In winter, however, they generally need no water. The soil for the heliconias has to be porous but rich. This will also help multiplication of rhizomes.