Would you believe that an exotic Bird of Paradise, Strelitzia reginae, could be
brought to bloom here in Staten Island in the middle of winter?
Last August, Jeanne Keefe Hogan of Sunnyside, received a Bird of Paradise plant
from her friend, Gudrun, who lives northwest of Albany. The plant she gave
Jeanne was separated from its mother plant. The original was quite large, with
beautiful flowers, when Jeanne saw it last spring. When she brought her baby
plant home, she planned to repot it into a nicer container, and left it on her
front steps temporarily, where it got plenty of late afternoon sun. She watered
it regularly and left it outdoors until around Halloween when Jeanne brought all
her plants indoors for the winter.
Gudrun had been keeping her Bird of Paradise in a western exposure, where it
received a good deal of light throughout the winter. She kept her home quite
cool all winter, but even though it gets very cold upstate, her plant seemed to
thrive. When the weather is warmer, Gudrun puts it outside on her deck, which
also faces west.
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Staten Island Advance
