Golden Torch

 Imagine if one of the international sports events during the night the torch that athletes are holding while running have a designed like this 'Golden Torch' shining in the dark. The Heliconia members is surely very showy, striking and exotic plant to look at. It does very well here in the tropics thriving without care in full sun or partial shade, provided the soil is moist. The plants is very appreciative of the wet season. The golden torch has been flowering non-stop since we went back. The blooms are like step of ladders, one by one it gives you a beak before fully bloom like the first photo. It is no wonder why it is also known as 'Bird of Paradise'.

Here is how the 'Golden Torch' journey begins.

Climbing towards the peak....

Almost there.... to full bloom.

Some spent blooms...

My parents came back for a few days from Borneo island. My mother gave a really good whacking like a Kung Fu master to her 'Golden Torch' plants. Well she is the professional in the house anyway. It took her less than 5 minutes to prune this one whereas I would probably take half a day. Because I will be very worried whether I am careful enough or damage her plants. So the above photos were collected from the ahem 'pruning'.

Peeping inside...looks like sweet corn kernels.

 It seems at the other side of our fence which is an empty lot has been populated by this 'Golden Torch' heliconia plants as well. I wondered whether this is due to seeds that has been dispersed from the plants or the rhizomes went really deep and across the brick fence. Heliconias is usually much easier to propagate by rhizomes or plant divisions.