Strelitzia reginae Bird of Paradise Flower seeds ?Strelitzia reginae Mandela's Gold, called yellow crane flower is a stemless, evergreen clump-forming perennial. Greyish green, banana-like leaves grow to a height of about 1.5 m and during winter and spring the large bird-like flowers are held above the foliage on the tips of long, sturdy stalks. The structure and pollination of the flowers is fascinating. The hard, beak-like sheath from which the flower emerges, is called the spathe. This is held at right angles to the stem, and has the appearance of a bird's head. Each spathe contains 4 to 6 flowers, and these emerge one at a time from the spathe. Each flower consists of 3 clear yellow sepals and 3 deep purple petals. The yellow sepals give the appearance of a crest on the 'bird's' head. Two of the purple petals are joined together around the stamens and the style to form an arrow-like structure. The seeds are sown in mineral-based cat litter or perlite in plastic-pots. Please sow the seeds on the mineral soil. Bigger seeds need to be covered with the mineral soil, small seeds should remain on the surface. Then put the plastic pot in a zip-lock bag - with a pot size of 6 cm , a zip-lock bag of size 12 x 17 cm is recommended . Fill in the zip-lock bag as much tap water with a few drops of universal fertilizer, so that after the absorption of the substrate a few mm of water remain on the bottom. Location: on the windowsill or in a small greenhouse in partial shade, daytime temperatures at about 73-83 F, somewhat lower at night at 68-72 F. Price is for 3 seeds