I've got a fairly large collection of Strelitzia (Bird of Paradise plants). These include:
Strelitzia Nicolai
Strelitzia Caudata
Strelitzia Alba
Strelizia Juncea
Strelitzia Reginae (Mandelas Gold)
Strelitzia Reginae
I'm interested in contacting other people in the uk with flowering sized Bird of Paradise plants with a view to swapping seeds and/or pollen. In particular, assuming that my S. Alba flower (now 2m tall!), I would like to recreate S. Kewensis, not seen since the early 1900s:
http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/ksheets/bop.html
I have also noticed that there appears to be a massive variation in the S. Reginae species with respect to leaf form, size and age at which they begin flowering. I'd welcome experiences that anyone else may have had with Strelizia generally.
all i can say is
WOW
Mm, impressed with your collection. Unfortunately I've only got a baby of the regular type, which is a few years off flowering.
Just wanted to point out that you might want to try the forums at www.gardenweb.com as well - the European/UK swapping forums are pretty good for people that collect specific plants. (Not sure what import regs are for pollen - you might even be able to swap with the US, not sure.) :)
Even regular Strelitzia Reginae is of interest for those producing their own seeds, as some people have have problems with 'self-fertilisation' not producing viable seeds. There's also a lack of information on how long pollen is viable for, and how long seed is viable for, which means that those of you buying the seeds on ebay etc can end up with very little change of germinating the seeds of this wonderful plant.
My rationale for posting here is that this is a uk based web site, and hence all the phytosanitary certificates at £50 per shipment are not required. Going through the paperwork to import plant material legally is a minefield, and I regularly get shipments held up, and have had one shipment destroyed because I didn't follow the latest 'procedure'. Growing Strelizia should be fun!....and at £50 per import.....the costs definitely reduce the fun factor.
Having said that, there are no problems with moving Strelitzia and pollen around the EU, and I'd be more than happy to correspond with other Strelitzia owners in the EU.