How to Cut Bird of Paradise Blooms

Remove bird of paradise blooms to enjoy indoors.

Bird of paradise is a tropical plant that blooms interesting flowers that bear a resemblance to bird heads. These flowers grow on top of long green stalks, often 5 or more feet tall. If you want to cut them -- whether to use in a floral display or to clean up your plant -- they are easily removed, and doing so will not affect the growth of the plant or its next flower cycle.

Things You'll Need

• Garden gloves
• Garden clippers

Instructions

1. Put on garden gloves when cutting off bird of paradise blooms; its leaves are very sharp. Use a pair of sharp garden clippers to clip off the stems.

2. Cut bird of paradise blooms when the flowers have just opened and bloomed to use them in a floral display. Cut them long enough so they’ll still look nice in the vase after recutting the ends every two days when you change the water. According to the University of Hawaii, they will last up to two weeks.

3. Remove bird of paradise blooms after they fade away to clean up the plant. You can cut them anywhere on the stems, such as just under the spent flowers or near the bottom of the plant.

References

• University of Hawaii at Manoa; Bird of Paradise; David Hensley, et al.; November 1998
• Texas A&M University: Caring for Plants in the Home
• University of Florida IFAS Extension; Bird of Paradise; Sydney Park Brown and Robert J. Black; February 1991
• Home and Garden Ideas; Growing Bird of Paradise Plants; Hj Jung; May 2011