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This is a pale form of the Bird of Paradise flower distributed by Kirstenbosch Botanic Garden
(also under the name 'Kirstenbosch Gold'). I have a young seedling (and I can't even claim I managed to germinate that myself -
none of mine came up!) The pictures below show the plant flowering at Wisley. Even at my most optimistic, I will not be seeing flowers on mine for the best part of a decade. In fact the winter of 2009-10 killed it. Plantzafrica says: "Yellow-flowering strelitzias have been known for a number of years, plants have cropped up in France, California, Australia, Japan and in South Africa at a few locations in Eastern Cape and at Kirstenbosch and the Karoo Desert National Botanical Garden, but always as isolated specimens. Left to their own devices, the seeds from these yellow forms will not breed true as they will most likely have been pollinated by an orange plant. To get yellow progeny, two yellow plants must be crossed. At Kirstenbosch in the 1970s, there were seven yellow plants in the nursery. John Winter, who was curator during this period, began a project to increase the stock. It took nearly twenty years of careful selection and hand-pollination, and in 1994 the original stock had been built up enough to enable us to introduce the yellow strelitzia to horticulture. It was released and traded under the name 'Kirstenbosch Gold' until 1996 when the NBI was granted permission to re-name it in honour of Nelson Mandela. In South Africa and other sunny countries, strelitzias will also do well in semi-shade, but in less sunny regions, they need as much sun as they can get if they are to flower well. Once established, they can survive with very little water, and they are tolerant of wind and coastal conditions. But 'Mandela's Gold' is sensitive to cold and needs a sheltered position against a north- or west-facing wall in areas that experience frost, and is not suitable for permanent outdoor cultivation in regions that experience a winter low of -7 to -1 ºC / 30 to 40 ºF (zone 9) or lower." |
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| 18th November 2007 | ||
