Strelitzia

Hi I don’t know if this is the right place. I have a potted Bird of Paradise. It’s doing very well although it hasn’t flowered for many years. It belonged to my late mother so I am quite attached to it. Can I safely divide it?

 

Have you got a picture?
You can divide them as long as you manage to get two pieces with good root systems.
It wont improve the chance of it flowering, I dont think, but it may improve the health of both plants you end up with.

 

Hello Mary by the Sea and welcome to the forum.

A question from me. You say it is potted. Do you know how old it may be? Did it ever bloom for your Mother as they take +/- seven years to bloom even in the ground?

 

Victoria, that's not strictly true. I've had flowers after three years from seed. Normally I'd be thinking 4-5.
As Pete says re the roots.

 

Hi I’ve had the plant since 2009. How long mum had it previously I don’t know. It’s only bloomed once - approx 2010/11. Several times I’ve nearly binned it as it looked so sorry for itself but I persevered and now it has new shoots and seems happy- except it’s getting so big!!
The plants at the base I think are lobelia - I had the strelitzia in the garden during the summer and I think I dropped some seeds!!!

 

Doesn't it have two flower stems in that picture?

 

Im hoping they are flower stems but I thought it was new growth because there at least four springing up

 

Now you mention it I can see three flower stems.
I wouldn't do any repotting or dividing until it's finished flowering.

 

Thanks for the help. So when it’s finished flowering it will be ok to separate? I guess late autumn or early spring would be best?
When it flowers shall I post a photo?

 

Yes post photos by all means, either here, or might be better, and get more notice in the "what's looking good for xxxxx" thread that runs every month.

It would be a shame to separate it, really it just needs a larger pot.

But if you feel you must then I'd do it directly after flowering, that should give it time to settle in new pots before the winter.

You did the right thing putting it outside for the summer, a good sunny spot works wonders and may well have brought it in to flowering mode.

 

Lucky for you. We just plop them in the ground and hope for the best. We don't fertilise here much either.

 

I wish I could grow them as a long term garden project, but winters like 2009-10 knocks the idea of plopping on the head!

 

Pete at the rate this plant is now growing the pots are getting so big I’m gonna have to build an extension
At least mum would be pleased

 

I plopped this one about 12 yrs ago.

 

@Mary by the sea Just a warning - I grew one from seed and had it more than 20 years but was finding it a bit cumbersome to move around, so I divided it - and both sections died. The roots were incredibly big and fleshy but I think I damaged it too much.