Monday, May 18, 2009

POTENTIAL HELICONIAS FOR LANDSCAPING






Heliconias are remarkable tropical plants with great stems, leaves and beautiful flowers. They are native to Central America, the Carribean, South America and some islands of the Pacific. There are 500 species and varieties or cultivars worldwide however, 150 species can be found in South East Asia and the Polynesians.

The presence of heliconias in landscaping area makes the scenery more colourful, scenic and enchanting. The unique erect or pendulous distichous to spiral inflorescences adds up more flower diversity and distribution in the vicinity. It lends the landscape, an air of peace and tranquility whatever flower fashion it may have and possesses a fascination that makes magnetic attraction for everyone.

Among the twenty varieties screened, cultural practices pertaining to heliconia growing such as fertilization, shade level requirements, pest and diseases incidence, five promising varieties had potentials based on their planting requirements.
The above pic is my poster .

1 comment:

Cecile said...

Very informative post. I've also read that heliconias are an important food source for forest hummingbirds, also use the plant for nesting. Some bats also live in tents it makes from heliconia leaves. I hope you have a lot of pictures of different heliconias.
snohomish landscaping