Bird-of-paradise is an evergreen perennial from South Africa, grown for its striking orange and blue flowers that look like a bird's head. It is easy to grow in sun and warmth, and flowers best when it gets plenty of light and room for its roots.
Family
Strelitziaceae (Bird-of-paradise family)
Grows as
Perennial
Light
Full sun, Part shade
Water
Water deeply when the top few centimetres of soil feel dry; needs little water once established outdoors.
Soil
Well-drained, fertile potting mix or garden soil; fairly tolerant of soil type.
Temperature
18–30 °C; protect below 10 °C and it tolerates only light frosts.
How easy
Easy
Safety
Toxic to cats and dogs (ASPCA).
Native range
Cape Prov. to KwaZulu-Natal
Climate
subtropical
About
Strelitzia reginae, commonly known as the crane flower, bird of paradise, or isigude in Nguni, is a species of flowering plant native to the Cape Provinces and KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. An evergreen perennial, it is widely cultivated for its dramatic flowers. In temperate areas it is a popular houseplant.
How to grow it
Strelitzia reginae is very popular as an ornamental plant. It was first introduced to Britain in 1773, when it was grown at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Since then, it has been widely introduced around the world, including the Americas and Australia, growing well in any area that is sunny and warm. In the United States, Florida and California are the main areas of cultivation, due to their warm climate. It is a common ornamental plant in Southern California, and has been chosen as the official flower of City of Los Angeles.
In areas with cold winters it is normally grown under glass, in a cool sunny position such as a greenhouse or conservatory, as it tolerates only light frosts and does not grow well in temperatures below 10 °C (50 °F). However, it may be placed outside during the summer months. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
[Contains information from Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Heritage Trees from data.gov.sg (National Parks Board), made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0]
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Strelitzia reginae by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.