Clumps of Heliconia rostrata (Hanging Lobster Claw) have been planted around the garden for its long pendulous flowers as well as using them as a living screen. They are also wonderful as cut flowers in large floral arrangement.
producing bright red blooms trimmed in yellow and lime green.
Heliconia rostrata thrives in full sunlight,
producing bright red blooms trimmed in yellow and lime green.
The colourful parts are actually the bracts.
The green horn aka the bud.
Ants are gathering in heightened anticipation even before the bracts open up.
The green horn aka the bud.
Ants are gathering in heightened anticipation even before the bracts open up.
This clump was planted in the ground as border plants to function as an effective screen.
As the pendulous flowers elongate, it can become rather heavy and tilting occurs.
I used tie-wires to pulled them upright.
As the pendulous flowers elongate, it can become rather heavy and tilting occurs.
This H. rostrata. is thriving happily in a container.
Three containers of Heliconia rostrata by the poolside afford partial screening and a tropical ambience.
They grew to about 10 feet high in containers and look quite wild.
This common garden snail was found resting on the cut end of a frond.
"Remember when life's path is steep to keep your mind even."
- Horace
The large frond provide a good platform for sunbathing and viewing for this grasshopper.
The fronds are used as a sliding plane for these living toys.
Up and down they go from one broad leaf to another. The last one left standing is the winner.
A plate of Char Koay Teow a popular Malaysian dish of fried flat rice noodles with cockles and prawns. For added zest, a squeeze of calamansi will do nicely.
Są piękne i szkoda, że nie mogą rosnąć w naszych ogrodach. Do miłych celów służą liście :)
ReplyDeleteThey are beautiful and I wish that they can grow in our gardens. To serve the purpose of leaves nice :)
As much as some tropical plants look exotic, there are many annuals and perennials in temperate climes which look gorgeous.
DeleteThis was the first plant my mother planted when we moved to Sungai Buloh. A beautiful curtain it gives for our privacy.
ReplyDeleteIt can grow rather exuberantly to the extent of being invasive. In choosing this heliconium, your mother chose well.
DeleteReally a colourful flower.
ReplyDeleteI often admire them but they are quite a maintenance when they get all dried and bushy.
I thought the plus point of planting this is because it is low maintenance - just cut off the flowers when they are no longer looking bright. On top of this, they make exellent cut flowers :)
Deletei remember this plant and the flower ..long time ago....very nice..
ReplyDeletewah you make char kuey teow there also...looks so yummy...
Looks like you miss Malaysia; its sights, sounds, smells and taste. Come back for a visit.
DeleteI feel like touching those 'claws'. Love to watch these blooms and touch them hehe... Btw I have that kind of grasshopper in my garden too. It can look pretty scary sometimes ;-)
ReplyDeleteI've always have a soft spot for heliconiums - thought of adding Heliconium 'sexy pink' to my collection. Grasshoppers are destructive as they are voracious feeders.
DeleteThat plant has a funny name and that name suits it well! It's a beautiful plant.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that the name is most apt as 'rostrata' in Latin refers to 'beaked, hooked, or curved' bracts. Its an eye-catching plant.
DeleteI've never seen such a plant, beautiful color and I can see why one would want to plant it as a screen. My oh my the beautiful world we live in amazes me.
ReplyDeleteLove the critters in the garden too!
Heliconiums are tropical plants of which there are other beautiful varieties; different shapes and colours. Besides being popularly cultivated in home gardens, they are also widely cultivated commerciarly for the cut flowers. Many hotel lobbies feature them.
DeleteStunning images of your exotic looking Heliconia rostrata - it really does resemble lobsters claws.
ReplyDeleteThey remind me of the delicious crab or lobster claws cooked in chillies and curries. However the latin name refer to them as beaks or hooks.
DeleteThis is one of my favorite plants to grow around the garden. I love your shots and you use it with landscape and dinner! Nicely done:)
ReplyDeleteThanks to you for the kind words. I wish I can offer you dinner over cyber space.
DeleteThey are great and once they are established in the garden, they spread like wildfire. Then you have plenty to use as cut flowers to give the home a resort feel :)
ReplyDeleteWow - great photos.
ReplyDeleteThanks for dropping by. As a new visitor to my blog, I'd like to welcome you.
DeleteHi, Wow, I want to grow one of these. I love those vibrant colors. They probably don't like the cold though, do they?
ReplyDeleteNot where you live, I think, as this is a quintessential tropical plant.
DeleteI love the lime-green accenting on the end of the bud, makes the red even redder! Love the way the flower bends down to the dinner plate in your last photo :)
ReplyDeleteYes, I like that combination of colours too, against the sun. You are being very imaginative; it does look some beaks are reaching down for a peck at the food. Anyway thanks for appreciating.
DeleteDefinately a most colourful and useful plant to have in the garden. I would love to have some around our pool.If in pots can they be taken indoors over winter?
ReplyDeleteYour dinner looks delicious:)
I think that in cold or temperate climes, tropical plants only thrive and bloom in the greenhouse and from there perhaps transfer into the warmth of indoors. Again I wish I can offer you this dish. In fact I'm having a small hen-party this weekend for lunch and this dish is on the menu.
DeleteWe have a lot in common, i noticed that earlier on! Where in Malaysia are you? My heliconia is also planted near this type of crotons, i have also been posting them in the past (maybe in my older blogspot). Because it is very prolific i often cut some of them to lessen the stands. But i am so happy with it because the flowers stay for a long time, giving much color even when most plants in our area already died due to long dry season. I love the way you conclude the post with a dish.
ReplyDeleteI lived right in the capital city and also in another state where the garden is bigger and really mature. I thus have a ready stock of plants for my new
Deleteurban garden. The flowers that I feature in my blog are mostly from my urban garden. As you have mentioned, Heliconium flowers seem to last forever. I'm glad that you like the way dishes are inserted in my posts. Our lives revolve around meals and food, so I thought to feature them would be be a good idea too. Best regards.
Hi Aaron, thanks, but as you can see, I'm already in the game. All the same, I feel honoured by your nomination.
ReplyDelete