{"product_id":"heliconia-mathiasiae-mildred-heliconia-mathiasiae","title":"Heliconia mathiasiae Mildred - Heliconia mathiasiae","description":"\u003cp\u003eHeliconia mathiasiae Mildred holds its flowers the other way up from a lobster claw: a stiff, erect spike of dark red bracts at the top of each cane, with yellow flowers that fade to green towards their tips. It is a selection of a true species rather than a garden hybrid, native to the forests of Central America, and the species was named for the American botanist Mildred Mathias. The plant is a tidy, upright, clumping heliconia at about waist to chest height that widens slowly, dressed in dark, matt green leaves with a pale midrib.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThat dark red reads deeper and cooler than the orange-reds of the small hybrid heliconias and sits well beside gold or lime foliage. The upright spikes are the classic shape for a tropical arrangement, which makes it a natural partner for the other picking plants in \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/flowering\"\u003eFlowering Plants\u003c\/a\u003e. Cut the spikes when the lower two or three bracts have opened and they hold for a week or more in a vase. In north Queensland gardens, sunbirds work the flowers for nectar.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eSiting a tidy clump\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt grows best in frost-free coastal gardens from the tropics south to Brisbane and the Gold Coast, and in sheltered spots on the far north coast of New South Wales. Treat it as frost tender, and expect growth to slow through winter south of the tropics. It flowers most freely in full sun to part shade with constant moisture at the roots, so a spot with morning sun, shelter from strong wind and soil heavy in compost suits it. Its modest size makes it useful where a running or giant heliconia would be a nuisance: in a large pot, a courtyard bed, or an understorey position under palms. In a pot, divide the clump when it fills the container, usually every few years.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eWhere water and wind catch it out\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eWater is the limit in most gardens. It wants regular deep soaking through the warm months, and a dry spell shows quickly as rolled leaves and stalled canes. Mulch thickly, and do not let a summer pass without a soaker hose or irrigation line reaching it. A pot dries out faster still, so check it every day or two in hot weather. Wind is the other weakness. Older leaves tatter and brown with age and exposure; remove them at the stalk, and choose a spot where a wall or larger plants break the gusts.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCut each spent flowering cane out at ground level, and take out dead and broken canes during spring to keep the clump open to light. Feed through the growing season with a balanced granular fertiliser every six weeks or so. In a sheltered, crowded clump, check the leaf bases for scale and mealybug.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eUpright, hanging and bigger again\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"\/products\/hot-rio-nights-heliconia-heliconia-bihai-x-caribaea-hot-rio-nights\"\u003eHot Rio Nights Heliconia\u003c\/a\u003e also stands its red bracts upright, but it is a far bigger plant, with broader bracts, and needs much more ground. \u003ca href=\"\/products\/hanging-lobster-claw-heliconia-rostrata\"\u003eHanging Lobster Claw\u003c\/a\u003e is the obvious contrast, a red that hangs instead of standing, and the two together give both flower shapes in one bed. Heliconia mathiasiae is about the size of the small psittacorum hybrids but clumps tightly instead of running, and of the three it is the one an ordinary suburban block can usually hold.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3 class=\"pd-size-guidance\"\u003eChoosing a size\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis plant is supplied in one size, 300mm, at $109.00 per plant. The size shown is the pot it arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/news\/when-to-plant-trees-and-shrubs-australia\"\u003ewhen to plant in Australia\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Plant Drop","offers":[{"title":"300mm","offer_id":67671054483825,"sku":null,"price":109.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1017\/1049\/6113\/files\/heliconia-mathiasiae-mildred-heliconia-mathiasiae.jpg?v=1791518312","url":"https:\/\/plantdrop.com.au\/products\/heliconia-mathiasiae-mildred-heliconia-mathiasiae","provider":"Plant Drop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}