Hope it's prolific here! I need some with vicious teeth to put under my Lychee tree. Maybe help to keep the fruit rats and squirrels away from the fruit at least a bit . .. ? I didn't know for sure about the teeth, because it's way at the back of a mixed up border, against the north side of the wall there.

Another pretty little noid, this one came from the garden at our previous house. I blooms faithfully, but so briefly I often miss it. Note to self: must move it so I'll see it more often!

Pretty color on those blooms ... that one reminds me of Billbergia.

Elaine, it does look like billbergia queen's tears. Mine are blooming right now as well. I do love the blue stipe along the flowers. It really makes up for the boring foliage the rest of year.

Hi, folks! I went to USF Botanical Gardens today so I'm here to torment...er...delight your senses with a bevy of bromeliads! I added as many as I could to the database, but not all had name tags. Or they did, but I didn't have gloves on and wasn't feeling brave. Sometimes I think I should bring gloves and then I wonder if that would make me look suspicious?

Now, the main bromeliad garden is literally at the front of the garden. They built it in between the little turnaround the cars use to go in and out. So I generally start there first. But it's my favorite part of the gardens so I'm glad it's up front. I like butterflies, but their butterfly garden could use some sprucing up. And I already volunteer at MOSI so USF can't have me!

Really showing off right now are the Aechmea blanchetiana. We'll see some more later in the tour, but these are the ones up front.



NOID



Billbergia saundersii



NOID, but I feel like I've seen this one before and know it. Just can't think of it.



Quesnelia testudo



Aechmea hybrid



NOID, but I'd say this is an Aechmea. Looks kind of like 'Little Harv' which we'll see later.



Neoregelia pauciflora



NOID, but I LOVE LOVE LOVE



Nidularium fulgens



NOID



Variegated Red Pineapple (Ananas bracteatus)



Here's a few more that lacked tags.



Aechmea aripoensis 'Raspberry'. Had to get this one added to the database because we didn't have it and it's AWESOME!



Okay, now I'm over by the fence that borders the road that runs parallel to the front of the garden. Nearly all the bromeliads in the garden are planted in light shade because Florida sun is not like other sun.

Billbergia brasiliensis



Some Vriesea hybrids



Some more Aechmea blanchetiana. These used to be more reddish orange. I think they're getting more shade than they used to. I'll have to look up next time and see what trees are growing.



Aechmea 'Little Harv' This is really common around here. You can buy it at almost every USF sale.



NOID, but doesn't it look like one I posted earlier? They have some duplicates around the garden. They also sell some in the plant shop as they separate the pups.



Billbergia 'Casa Blanca'



Billbergia 'Fascinator'



Billbergia 'Hallelujah' Another one you can find at pretty much every USF plant sale. It must pup a lot.



Aechmea weilbachii Wait, isn't this the one I've posted twice now? I think I just figured out some NOID plants!



Bromeliads on fences, on trees. We just put 'em wherever.



No tags, but these are Aechmea mexicana that have been there forever. Look how big they get!



And they have another one (well, two) on the other side of the tree. And they're both blooming!



As I mentioned, they usually have some bromeliads for sale in the plant shop, but the real time to buy is when the Bromeliad clubs sell during the spring and fall plant festivals. But I did find this nice mounted Tillandsia stretophylla (red form). You can see it bloomed, but it has a pup on top. It was $15 and I got 10% off because I'm a member.



Hope you enjoyed the tour and it brightened up the cold winter day!

Absolutely awesome, Melanie. I really love the little Tillandsia you got - it looks like some Italian work of art! I'm going to look for that one next time I'm at Tropiflora (although I'm sure they'll charge me a lot more than USF was).

Thanks for sharing all those brom pics, Mellie. Some of those, I've never seen before!

We're lucky to have some really good bromeliad clubs, hybridizers, growers, and of course, Selby Gardens. Selby does a lot of research on bromeliads. I need to make a trip down there and see what's blooming. They redid their greenhouse last year after I visited so maybe some new stuff? Plus, I get in there free because of the American Horticultural Society's reciprocal admission policy. I show my USF Botanical Garden card and get in free. And Selby is $19 for an adult so that's a big deal!

If you belong to a botanical garden, check the AHS site to see if you can get membership perks at other gardens using their reciprocal benefits program. http://www.ahs.org/gardening-p... It has saved me so much money. Which reminds me, Sunken Gardens got added recently and I haven't been there in years. Road trip!

OK. I just finished the Cordyline thread and started a spring shopping list. I see I will have to add some broms to the list now! I wish spring would hurry or I will have an manageable list of Wants come spring!

Melanie - Your photos were great!!! Wow! What a neat place to visit. Down here we do have a botanical garden locally, but I don't see much in the way of Bromeliads.

I am starting to appreciate ferns and broms much more because of some of the shady areas in my yard.

This deviating from this thread, but do any of you grow ferns?

Mellie, I LOVED the tour. My "wants" list just got longer.
I agree on the reciprocal membership thing. I have been a member of AHS forever and can't tell you how much I have saved on garden admissions around the country over the years.

Wonderful stuff there Mellie.

My "addiction" to bromeliads was a brief two years. I now have only a dozen or so. I moved out approximately 120 during the fall. It was either move'um or lose'um, since I had no space inside for them. They would have all been toast by now. I hope they are bringing joy to those who took them off my hands.

I am not doing well managing my addiction to orchids though.

Melanie, great tour! I've just recently started getting interested in bromeliads, and had no idea there were so many beauties out there! The couple that you mentioned are common around Tampa, Little Harv and Hallelujah, I've never even seen planted around here. Just lovely!!

I think a lot of broms are hiding in peoples' yards because they like to grow mostly in shade. So once you start looking for them, you'll notice them more. They also grow up in the branches of trees, and can get to huge size up there if the tree will support them. There's one getting towards the size of a small car in a huge oak tree at Tropiflora, our local bromeliad nursery.


Some of them flower for a long time but a lot of them flower more often, but for just a brief time. In summer the flowers can last as little as two or 3 days on some of my Billbergias. But the range of colors on the leaves is fabulous. Shade houses at Tropiflora - Melanie, you really need to go see them next time you're down this way! Their prices are high enough to discourage a lot of spending (mostly).

Great tour Melanie! Such beautiful Broms ... I think my favorites are Billbergia 'Cassablanca' and Billbergia 'Hallelujah'! The little Tillandsia streptophylla is a cutie too.

Elaine, that is one monster Brom growing in that tree!!! I wonder if it's the Giant Air Plant (Tillandsia utriculata) which I've heard can grow to 8 to 10 feet or more! That is one beautiful rainbow of color in Tropiflora's shade house! We used to vacation on Longboat Key every summer for many years and although I've been to Selby Gardens a few times, I never got a chance to visit Tropiflora's business. I do get e-mails from Tropiflora on a regular basis showing their sales etc. and recently thought about purchasing a couple of little Broms from the catalog.

That Casa Blanca really caught my eye, too Lin. They've got to be the absolutely most easy care plants. I'm collecting more and more of them to fill up my shady border areas with texture and color. I just go to all Tropiflora's sales, and the member sales at Selby are great, too. They sell bare-root offsets of some wonderful plants for $2 or $3 each.

Ken, not to 'enable' your addiction again but broms can be kept dormant and bare root similar to what you do with your plumeria cuttings. I once was given a garbage bag full of broms. I laid the bag on the ground (open) and promptly forgot about it for a couple of months! Came back to find not a single brown leaf on any of the plants. Just stuck them in the ground, propped them up and they took off, blooming and pupping. I now have several big clumps. It was this one - Billbergia pyramidalis 'Kyoto'.

Elaine, that is really gorgeous!!