just seeing if I can post a photo....

[Pazuzu]

I know this is supposed to be for palms but at the moment I have no palm photos. I just want to make sure I know how to post photos so this is a test. These are heliconia blooms. I grow them in my greenhouse, along with a lot of other tropical stuff
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[Pazuzu]

OKAY! That worked well!

[DesertZone]

Those are very

[Wes North Van]

Those are very cool looking flowers.
Being a palm freak and not knowing much about any other type of plant, I have some questions.
How hardy are they and can they grow outside in a zone 8b climate?
Are they a bulb or rhizome?
How tall do they get?
Any info would be very helpful. I would love to get my hands on some of those.

[Pazuzu]

Wes, those are Heliconia inflos. No, they don't do zone 8B unless you have a greenhouse. The hardiest heliconia known to science (haha) that is widely cultivated is a species called H. schiediana, it will survive a light frost most of the time but bloom sporadically after and the blooms are nothing special. The cultivars in my photo are all strictas, bihais and caribaeas, most plants average 8 ft tall, the biggest red ones average 18-25 ft tall, and all take a couple years to start to bloom. They can;t be maintained much below 50F if you expect blooms. Mine are all greenhouse grown.