Heliconia: Greenhouse Plants
W – warm, minimum of 13°C (55°F) / T – tropical, minimum of 18°C (65°F)
These plants are closely related to the Banana and are grown for their handsome foiliage and the brightly coloured bracts from which the flowers emerge. Heliconia humilis has bright scarlet bracts edged with gold. It comes from Trinidad and Brazil and makes a plant of some 1.2 m (4 ft). H. bihai is perhaps the most popular and also one of the largest; far too large for a modest greenhouse but it does have superb showy bracts. More sensible is H. latispatha whose leaves only reach 1 m (3 ft). This has bracts of orange-red near the base and bright red at the tip. Water these plants well during spring and summer. Throughout the rest of the year they can be kept cooler and drier while they rest. Spring is the time for potting on when division of the rootstock can also take place. Seed may also be sown.