Bird of Paradise

Wow! Are they in your garden?

Yes! In the front yard. It's a fairly common plant here. :)

Funny, I had this plant in a pot in my appartement in Cracow. I was told I could throw it away, asi it was not flowering for years. I started to fertilize it with coffee sediment and it started to bloom very vigorously. I have to look after the photo. It was long time ago.

It can take 7 years if it is from seed for the first flower. I have the giant Strelitzia nicholai that will bloom any year now. But a regular plant division only takes a little while to settle in. It could be the coffee changed the Ph to what the plant likes (slightly acid).

There are three explanations:
1) The plant reached 7 when I arrived to the appartement.
2) Nobody took care for the flower before and fertilizing the soil rejuvenated it.
3) It was happy with me :)

Wylieintheazores:

Great flowers! These are grown everywhere here by the millions! They're all in full bloom, also.

you are living in paradise, then :)

It's suprising they are cold, but not frost, tolerant.

Katarina:

Strelitzia reginae (Bird-of-Paradise) is the official flower of the city of Los Angeles. However, it's very widely grown in all frost-free, lower-elevations of California.

Wylieintheazores:

It tolerates some frost...just not heavy frost. They do grow in the Central Valley of California where they can get sometimes heavy frost.