Heliconia latispatha ‘Red Yellow Gyro’ is one of my favorite heliconia in the garden. There are plenty of reasons:
It does well in both sunny and partly shaded locations. It’s very cold hardy. It has attractive purplely splotches on its stalks. It is a vigourous grower.
But the main reason is how it just pumps out flowers. Beginning in mid to late Spring, you start to see the tops of the stalks fatten up, and then look out, here come the blooms. Staircasing bracts, up to 2 feet tall, start opening up on the top of the stalks, out in clear view above all the green foliage. The coloration is very nice as well- bright red tips fading to orange and then yellow in the center. The blooms will sit on the plant for a month or more- and then, a few months later, it will do another bloom flush! It just loves to put out flowers.
If you aren’t growing this Heliconia, you really should! I’ve got some in stock at Exotica Tropicals Nursery- and right now my garden plants are throwing out so many blooms that i has plenty to cut and put in a vase in the lobby:
