Bird of Paradise
Strelitzia reginae
A bold, tropical-looking clump of banana-like leaves with orange-and-blue flowers shaped like a bird's head, blooming over a long season in mild climates and lasting up to two weeks cut. Once settled it's surprisingly tolerant of dry spells. Overwatering rots the roots, and it's toxic to cats, dogs and horses.
- Mature size
- 4.5 × 4.5 ft
- 1.3 × 1.3 m, tall × wide
- Hardiness
- Zones 10a–12b
- USDA
- Sun
- Full sun
- Water
- Medium
- Blooms
- Jun–Oct
Bird of Paradise at its mature size
A mature Bird of Paradise grows 3 to 6 feet tall and just as wide.
Drawn to scale beside a 5 ft 9 in person. With VeraScape, you see it at this size in your own yard.
Typical mature size, unpruned. Sources: NC State Extension, San Marcos Growers.
,_Conservatorio_bot%C3%A1nico,_Fort_Wayne,_Indiana,_Estados_Unidos,_2012-11-12,_DD_01.jpg){kind=link}
Through the year
What Bird of Paradise looks like month by month in a typical zone 6–7 garden.
In leaf · Nov–May
Paddle leaves, few or no flowers.
In flower · Jun–Oct
Paddle leaves with orange and blue crane flowers.
Photos
Growing Bird of Paradise
- Grows well in
- The desert Southwest and California.
- Growth rate
- Medium
- Good for
- Deer resistant
- Leaves
- Evergreen
- Native to
- South Africa
Spacing
VeraScape spaces plants so their grown canopies just touch. For Bird of Paradise, that’s about 4.5 ft apart, center to center.
Place a row in your own yard and VeraScape spaces them at their mature width, so you can see whether they’ll crowd the walk.
See Bird of Paradise in your yard before you dig
Visualize it at its true size, alongside the rest of your design.