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Green Notes

Photo: S. Mahinsha

Variety Heliconias come in different colour forms

Heliconia, the highly in demand flower in the cut-flower industry is grown for its brilliant coloured bracts in floral stems. Heliconias come in different colour forms. The foliage is attractive, with purple colouration on the leaf underside. Heliconia flowers are produced on panicles, and consist of brightly coloured waxy bracts, with small true flowers inside the bracts. Bracts can be orange, purple, red, yellow, pink, green or their combinations.

Easy to grow even in shades , they have become popular for indoor floral arrangements and stage decorations. The striking colours, stiff bracts and long keeping quality of heliconias make them excellent for floral craft works. The attractive foliage and flowers add beauty to landscape making it an excellent garden plant.

The flowers received media attention a few months ago, as the Iris banoki variety of Heliconia, grown by a Kochi based florist George Philip, was flown all the way from Kochi to Mumbai to decorate the orange-red theme based hall arranged for Aishwarya - Abhishek wedding.

The plant also known as lobster claw, wild plantain or false bird of paradise is a native to tropical America and Pacific Ocean Islands. It is named after mount Helicon, the seat of Muses — the nine goddesses of arts and science in Greek mythology. The muses supposedly remained young and beautiful forever like the long-lasting and elegant flowers of heliconia.

Some of the commonly grown heliconia species include garden species like Heliconia Augusta, Heliconia Bihai, Heliconia Brasiliensis, Heliconia Caribaea, Heliconia Latispatha, Heliconia Pendula, Heliconia Psittacorum, Heliconia Rostrata, Heliconia Schiediana, and Heliconia Wagneriana.

Prince of Darkness, Iris Banoki, Carribea, Black Magic, Yellow Parrot, Sexy Pink, Eltiker are some of the commonly grown commercial varieties. Dwarf varieties like Fire Flash, Dwarf Jamaican et al are suitable for growing in pots.

The plant is propagated through rhizomes as in banana. Rhizomes from a mother plant one to two years old in flowering stage are usually selected for planting.

Fertile soil with adequate moisture and sun is needed. The rhizomes are planted in pits of around one feet depth at a spacing of 1.5 m between plants and 2 m between rows. Frequent watering, mulching and application of fertilizer mixtures increase flower yield and quality.

The plant starts flowering nine months after planting and give continuous yield up to two to three years depending on the type variety.

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