{"product_id":"heliconia-strica-royal-tagami-heliconia-strica","title":"Heliconia stricta Royal Tagami","description":"\u003cp\u003eHeliconia stricta Royal Tagami belongs to the heliconia group that looks most like the classic picture of the genus, scaled down. Its flower heads stand upright from the tops of the stems as a stack of stiff, boat shaped bracts set alternately in one flat plane, and its leaves are broad paddles on long stalks, much like a young banana. Strictas fill the gap between the slender psittacorum heliconias, all fine stems and narrow leaves, and the tall bihai and caribaea kinds that need the room of a large tropical garden. You get the bold lobster claw outline at a size an ordinary suburban bed can hold.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMost strictas carry red bracts, often marked with green or yellow along the keel and tips, and they flower mainly in the warm months rather than all year.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eWhere a stricta fits\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eStrictas want warmth, humidity and shelter. On the Queensland coast give it morning sun and broken light in the afternoon; further south it will take more sun, provided the soil stays moist. A position against a north or east facing wall, or in the lee of palms and shrubs, protects the leaves, which tear in wind and scorch in hot, dry gusts. Plant into rich, well drained soil with compost and leaf litter dug through it, and mulch thickly. Away from the tropical and subtropical coast its chances rest on finding a frost free pocket, and \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/news\/tropical-garden-plants-for-cooler-districts\"\u003eGetting a tropical look in cooler Australian districts\u003c\/a\u003e explains how to pick one.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eCold feet, empty clumps and how to avoid them\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eMost failures come down to cold and wet together. A stricta in heavy soil that stays soggy through a cool winter rots at the rhizome, and the first sign is often a clump that fails to reshoot in spring. Raise the bed in clay and keep winter watering to a minimum. Frost burns the foliage outright. The other common disappointment is a clump with plenty of leaf and no flowers, which usually means too much shade, too little fertiliser or a clump so crowded that the young stems cannot develop.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSpread well rotted manure around the clump as growth starts in spring, scatter a controlled release fertiliser over it and repeat that in midsummer, and soak the bed deeply in any dry week until autumn. Once a flower head has finished, cut its stem out low down; it will not flower again and only shades the new growth.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eTwo strictas and a finer alternative\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe other stricta in the range, \u003ca href=\"\/products\/heliconia-stricta-dimples\"\u003eHeliconia stricta Dimples\u003c\/a\u003e, wants exactly the same treatment, and the two grown side by side show how much variation the species holds. If the broad leaves are more than the space allows, \u003ca href=\"\/products\/heliconia-psittacorum-lady-di-heliconia-psittacorum\"\u003eHeliconia psittacorum Lady Di\u003c\/a\u003e gives red bracts on a narrow leaved clump, though without the stricta's sculptural flower head. The upright heads show up most clearly against plain dark leaves, and the \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/tropical-plants\"\u003eTropical Plants\u003c\/a\u003e collection is the place to find a backdrop for them.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3 class=\"pd-size-guidance\"\u003eChoosing a size\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis plant is supplied in one size, 300mm, at $129.00 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":67672588681585,"sku":null,"price":129.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1017\/1049\/6113\/files\/heliconia-strica-royal-tagami-heliconia-strica.jpg?v=1791526069","url":"https:\/\/plantdrop.com.au\/products\/heliconia-strica-royal-tagami-heliconia-strica","provider":"Plant Drop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}