My latest plant-related road trip took me to a bromeliad show and sale. With bromeliads on my mind, I thought I'd focus on my small collection for today's foliage follow-up, the meme hosted by Pam at
Digging.
Before I share my newest purchases, I'll share those I already had. With two exceptions, all are in pots.
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| I no longer remember when I got this one but I think it's one of the oldest in my collection. I moved it to this pot and this location last year. I've no record of its name but on-line research suggests it may be Aechmea orlandia, possibly 'Rainbow'. It's produced a couple of pups since I acquired it. |
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| Dyckia 'Burgundy Ice' has spent its life in this pot, albeit with different companions. I replanted the pot earlier this year. |
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| I picked this Vriesea up last year. It wasn't labeled but I'm guessing it may be V. ospinae var gruberi. It shares this large cauldron-style planter with an asparagus fern and a Rhipsalis. |
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| This is my only surviving Tillandsia, T. albida. I tried keeping 2 others as house plants and lost them both. This one is nestled among succulents in a pot hanging from from a branch of Arbutus 'Marina' in the front garden. |
The two bromeliads I didn't have in pots are a lot less happy than those that are.
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| According to my records, this is Puya berteriana (aka turquiose puya for the dramatic flowers it produces at maturity). I planted it here in 2014 and subsequently added the Agave desmettiana currently looming over it. I've no idea what I was thinking when I placed them so close together. The Puya should get much bigger in time. Now I have to figure out how to extricate it without tearing up my hands in the process. |
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| This sad specimen is Dyckia marnier-lapostolli. While it receives a little shade under a guava tree (which is good), it also receives overhead watering (which is bad). The shade hasn't been sufficient to keep its tips from burning and the overhead watering has marred the silvery scale like hairs that coated its leaves. I'm not sure whether moving it to a pot at this point will restore its former beauty but I may try that. |
I picked up 3 new bromeliads at the afore-mentioned sale the weekend before last. One was purchased in a pot and the 2 others were less expensive pups.
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| This is Nidularium wittrockia leopardinum. I can't explain why it appealed to me so much but, when I found myself repeatedly coming back to it, I gave in and walked it up to the register. I knew nothing whatsoever about the genus, much less this particular cultivar. I subsequently learned that it rarely blooms but I did find one photo of its flower, which you can see here. |
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| This Aechmea 'Chantini Surprise' is one of the pups I brought home. I thought this pot was perfect for it (even if I had to evict the former tenant, an Aeonium). |
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| In my earlier post on the bromeliad sale, I mentioned falling in love with Aechmea blanchetiana 'Orange' at first sight. Well, I found a pup and snapped it up. (All 3 of my purchases together cost less than the large specimen I first fell for.) Alison of Bonney Lassie mentioned that she's had trouble with this plant yellowing and developing burn spots. After seeing her comment I moved this one to its current location, where I hope the shade of the tree will be sufficient to protect it. |
In my climate, where the summer sun can be intense, most of my bromeliads seem to prefer at least partial shade. Currently, almost half my collection sits in afternoon shade under the magnolia tree in my front garden. They've already forced the relocation of some other succulents I had there and it's altogether possible that, someday, this bench will be populated entirely by bromeliads.
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| The Billbergia nutans (aka Queen's Tears) shown in the foreground here are a last minute addition. I finally pulled apart the grossly overcrowded pot I had in an excessively sunny location and repotted just a few of the best pups. Hopefully, these will enjoy their new location. |
Visit Pam at Digging to see what foliage she and other gardeners are flaunting this month.
All material © 2012-2016 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
I loved that they were selling pups fairly inexpensive. That's a great way to go. The tree bench is perfect for your collection of pots.
ReplyDeleteThe supply of bromeliad pups was very small by the time I arrived on the last day of the sale. I 'll have to make the effort to get out the door on day #1 next year!
DeleteКрасота!
ReplyDeleteI am glad you liked the plants!
DeleteLove your bromeliads. I'm so glad you found an affordable A. blanchetiana "Orange" and your container-Aechmea Chantini Surprise combo is spot on!
ReplyDeleteI was happy to find the orange Aechmea at a reasonable price. Now I just hope I can prevent it from suffering the problems Alison has observed.
DeleteGreat collection! I especially love the first and third ones. I have two Vriesea ospinae-gruberi in my collection, now. It's such a beautiful plant. The Nidularium is pretty cool, too! Regarding the turquoise puya, did you maybe plant a Dyckia in there, too? The leaves look awfully thick and green to be Puya berteroniana.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I was sure that plant in the succulent bed along the street was a Dyckia until I checked my records, which showed the Puya but no Dyckias in that area. I suppose I could have lost the Puya somewhere along the line and failed to record a Dyckia but until I free it from the agave's embrace and give it more room to realize its potential, I won't know for certain. It hasn't grown much in 2.5 years.
DeleteSuch a great family of plants and your collection is gorgeous! I especially like the pairing of Aechmea 'Chantini Surprise' with that pot. It's like they were made for each other!
ReplyDeleteAlthough I felt a wee bit guilty about ousting a happy Aeonium from that pot, I couldn't agree more that the Aechmea was made for it.
DeleteExcellent purchases! I give you a big pat on the back for your choices. The first one you show, at the top of the post, is also quite a looker...
ReplyDeleteThe color on that Aechmea orlandia, if that's what it is, can't be matched.
DeleteYou found some great Bromeliads, I'm glad you found a pup of the orange Aechmea. I hope it thrives for you. I had heard that it needed full sun to retain the orange color, so I may have given it too much. Peter has one too, which I think you can see in pictures of his "Danger Gardenette." His looks to be in much better condition than mine (no surprise there.)
ReplyDeleteI initially placed the orange Aechmea by the front door, where it would get strong sun from mid to late afternoon but, after I saw your comment, I moved it under the tree where it gets the softer early morning sun. Hopefully, that'll do the trick but I'm going to watch it closely for a while.
DeleteThey are plants that want to be inside with us.
ReplyDeleteI hope we both get some rain soon.
Mariana
We do not get winter freezes here so these plants can stay outside. However, they would really prefer to live in Hawaii or Florida where they would get more humidity.
DeleteI hope your drought breaks soon, Mariana. Dry conditions are the norm here but Sweden should not have to deal with those too!
What a marvelous collection you have. I've often admired bromeliads in the 2 nearby college greenhouses, but I've never attempted to own one because it gets too dry and cool in here in the winter. I'd have to have one of those pricey Wardian cases to give the right atmosphere.
ReplyDeleteI love the striped and splotched ones the best. I love that our gardens are so different, its fun seeing 'how the other sides lives' and gardens! ;)
Yes, when I look at your posts I often think our gardens couldn't be more different. If the truth be told, I'd prefer to have a river like yours in my backyard than the LA harbor, Eliza.
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