Features:
Common name: White Bird of Paradise
Family: Strelitziaceae
Origin: South Africa
Height at maturity: up to 10 meters
Hardiness: -2°C
Exposure: sunny, partial shade
Plant type: flowering tree
Vegetation: perennial
Foliage: evergreen
Flowering: May to June
Flower color: white
Soil type: potting soil 1/3 garden soil 1/3 and 1/3 coarse sand
Watering: copiously in summer, very little in winter
Use: pot, tub, garden
Diseases and pests: aphids, scale insects
Toxicity: not determined
Storage of seeds: 1 year in a dry place away from light at 3/4°C (refrigerator)
Description:
A giant Strelitzia, it forms a tuft of stems at the ends of which, in spring, three to five spathes appear (membranous bracts enveloping the inflorescence) protecting white flowers with light blue-purple corollas. Its evergreen leaves can measure up to 2 meters long and 60cm wide.
Can reach a height of 10 meters in its natural environment, pot culture will allow you to limit its size reasonably to take advantage of its flowering. As it ages, this plant will have similarities in appearance to the well-known traveller’s tree ravenala madagascariensis.
The culture in an apartment is possible by offering it a lot of light and strelitzia nicolaï particularly appreciates a cool and well-drained soil.
