Bird of Paradise

Check your light →

Give it the sunniest window you have and it may reward you with its orange-and-blue blooms. In bright shade you’ll have a handsome stand of paddle leaves; the birds need the sun.

Along riverbanks and in coastal scrub clearings of the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, it stands in open light (Kew, NC State). Indoors, a south-facing window comes closest to that; a west window with long afternoon light is the runner-⁠up.

Once temperatures rise above 70°F (NC State), it can move out to a patio or balcony in sun or light shade, with air moving around it. Bring it back in before nights fall near 54°F (RHS).

Flowering waits on age as well as light, so a young plant in a sunny window may simply be biding its time. Paddles alone will settle for less; the bird gets the best seat in the house.

Every 7-10 days from spring through summer, stretching to 10-14 in winter. A missed watering worries it far less than a soggy pot, which can rot the roots.

NC State pairs free watering with regular feeding in spring and summer, so the warm months are when it drinks and eats; winter is the drier season, and feeding is a spring-summer job in that guide.

Pot it in a fertile, loamy mix (NC State); its fleshy roots are the part that suffers when a pot stays wet.

The RHS notes it likes warmth and humidity. If dry radiator air browns the edges of those gray-green paddles and that bothers you, keeping it clear of heat vents may help; the plant survives regardless.

Gone for a while? Two weeks is fine if it’s watered well the day you leave.

A slow-growing clump of banana-like paddles on long stalks, 3-5 feet tall and 2-4 feet wide. It wants floor space beside your sunniest window, with elbow room for the leaves to fan; cut spent flower stalks at the base.

New stalks rise from an underground rhizome (NC State), so the clump grows wider rather than taller. It takes its time about it, slow-growing by most accounts (UF, Wisconsin) and 10-20 years to full size (RHS), so the plant you bring home may stay close to its size for a good while. Offsets that form at the base are how it spreads, and how you divide it into two plants (Kew).

Kew notes that a slightly pot-bound bird of paradise is more likely to flower, and that its fleshy roots bruise when disturbed, so a snug pot serves the blooms and the roots alike.

That fan of upright paddles suits an open corner by a big south window, the far end of a long room, or a lobby where it can be seen from every side.

The ASPCA lists it as toxic to dogs and cats, though the usual signs are mild: nausea, vomiting, or drowsiness. For kids, Poison Control calls it minimally toxic, with an upset stomach at most.

Most of the effects come from the fruit and seeds.

What it carries works as a stomach irritant (ASPCA). Its fruit is a leathery capsule of seeds (NC State), and seed usually takes hand-pollination, which even then seldom works (Kew).

Check the label if you’re comparing notes. The name bird of paradise also goes to Caesalpinia gilliesii, a plant from the pea family that the ASPCA rates as more toxic; Strelitzia reginae is the gentler of the two namesakes.

For a child, a small bite may bring vomiting or diarrhea that passes, and a large piece can be a choking risk (Poison Control). If symptoms don’t settle or anything worries you, Poison Control can help with a child, and your vet or the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center can help with a pet (a fee may apply).

If you have a nibbling pet or a curious toddler, cutting spent flower heads before pods form may reduce the chance of seeds. With that habit, trouble is less likely, though a chewed leaf can still upset a stomach.

1. ASPCA: mild for dogs.
2. Pet Poison Helpline: mild for dogs.
3. ASPCA: mild for cats.
4. Pet Poison Helpline: mild for cats (rates the whole genus).
5. Poison Control: mild for kids.

Cats and dogs: Most of the leading sources agree.

Kids: Majority of top sources and extension.

Happiest at 55-70°F, and it shouldn’t sit below 50°F. It likes humidity around 60% and gets by at 20%.

Temperature

55-70°F

Humidity

60-60%

Scale is the one to watch: check leaf stalks, midribs, and leaf undersides. Mealybugs sit where stalks sheathe the crown, mites and whiteflies under the leaves, and aphids on new leaves and flower spathes.

• Scale
• Mealybugs
• Spider mites
• Whiteflies
• Aphids

A few: mealybugs, scale, and spider mites (NC State, UW–Madison), and root rot from soggy soil.

Mealybugs look like tufts of white cotton where the leaf stalks meet; scale looks like small brown bumps on the stalks and the backs of the leaves. Wipe them off with a cotton swab dipped in rubbing alcohol (a fingernail lifts scale), then check again next week.

Spider mites leave fine webbing and pale speckles, worst in warm, dry winter air. Wipe the big leaves on both sides with a soft, damp cloth (UW–Madison warns against leaf-shine products), and if the mites come back, spray with insecticidal soap.

Root rot shows as yellowing leaves and a wilting plant in wet soil: let it dry more between soaks and make sure the pot drains.

Feed every 2 weeks in spring and summer, monthly or never in winter; overfeeding cuts flowers. Wipe leaves 6 times a year, snip spent blooms and shredded leaves, and repot every 2nd year after flowering.

• Feed12× a year
• Clean leaves6× a year
• Repot1× a year
• Deadhead2× a year
• Prune2× a year

A big, heavy pot with drainage holes and a potting mix that drains fast; a tall plant tips easily in a light pot.

Repot only when the roots bulge or crack the pot, in early spring, and don’t set it deeper than before (UW–Madison). It blooms better pot-bound, so in the years between, scrape off the top layer of soil and replace it with fresh mix.

It’s a heavy feeder: a water-soluble fertilizer every two weeks in spring and summer, and little or none in fall and winter (Clemson, UW–Madison). Too much cuts down on flowers (Clemson).

Broad, banana-like paddle leaves in green, with a soft sheen and some texture, fan out on long stalks. The clump is full but leaves some soil showing. Orange-and-blue flowers look like a bird’s head.