Fireworks cost lots of money and create air pollution. Maybe the money could be better spent by planting bold tropicals that add color to your garden.
Most native Hawaiian plants are not noted for their bold tropical effects. Exceptions are our Hawaiian cibotium treeferns, pritchardia palms, pandanus, freycinetia and a few others. Many true natives like silverswords the lobeliads are hard to come by and have very specific requirements. What we commonly think of as bold and hardy are the canoe plants brought to Hawaii by the Polynesians like the coconut palm, banana, breadfruit and kalo or taro. Many other bold tropical were later introduced as landscape plants from all over the world. For a bold tropical effect in the garden, consider the banana and its relatives the heliconia, bird of paradise and traveler’s tree.
Most heliconia require a good soil with moisture and some wind protection. Banana plants should be included in our gardens, but for striking flowers, as well as leaves, it’s hard to beat some other members of the family musaceae. The traveler’s tree or ravenala from Madagascar is too big for a small garden, so let’s concentrate on a few of these exotics that thrive in limited surroundings. One of these belongs to the group called heliconias. It is sometimes called false bird of paradise or wild plantain. It includes some of the most striking inflorescences in the world along with luxuriant foliage.
Flowers are often concealed by leaves that are somewhat like those of the banana, broadly bladed, with their basal stems forming the main stalk. There are many varieties growing from a few feet in height to 12 or 15 feet. As garden material, heliconias require some room, but where this is available, they make a good filler for tropical effects. The soil should be loose but water holding since they need moisture. They also must be protected from wind to save their large leaves from damage and have more shade in hot, sunny locations. They are propagated from suckers or clump divisions. They are often called lobster-claws because the colorful keels of the flower stalk in which the flowers hide are incurved slightly at the end like the claw of a lobster.
Heliconia humilis, the flowering stalk, that is about two or three feet tall, is made up of bright boiled-lobster-red bracts (or keels) edged with dark green. The leaves of this variety are 6 to 8 feet in height. It is best used as a filler plant. The bloom comes on in early summer.
Then there is Heliconia elongata, similar to the above, but the keels are pinkish, deeply edged with yellow and green. This one blooms in early spring, and grows to about 8 feet, even taller, rising above these leaves that make it more conspicuous. The red-leafed Heliconia (Heliconia metallica) is primarily a foliage plant, with large, graceful, falling leaves about 8 feet tall. They are a metallic purplish-red below. The keels are reddish, slender not conspicuous, but make good cut flowers. Heliconia aureo-striata has leaves that are striped with yellow midribs and veins. Heliconia illustris is like Heliconia aureo-striata but has pinkish coloring on the leaves in addition to the yellow and green. Heliconia rubra variegata is another one notable for its colorful leaves. The long blades are marked with cerise lines parallel to the veins, while the mid-rib and stem are also cerise-pink. The undersides of the leaves have more color than the top, and the younger leaves are brighter than the older ones. This variety makes an extremely attractive pot plant for patio use.
There is a dwarf variety called Heliconia psittacorum that is less than 3 feet tall. The inflorescence of this one is red. This, too, would make a good pot specimen. Several named varieties are also available of the “dwarf” types.
Heliconia species have very few problems. Give them fertilizer and water. In return, you will have an abundance flowers.
