FOR OUR GULF COAST AREA!
By BROMELIAD SOCIETY/HOUSTON (bromeliadsocietyhouston.org)
We’d like to introduce to you some interesting bromeliads that you might want to consider adding to your collections – and why you should consider them.
The following plants include six different genera and the growing conditions they prefer. All of them can be grown in Houston, keeping in mind that they will need to be protected during winter temperatures below 45 degrees.
Hohenbergia magnispina ‘Karla’
- Beautiful vegetative sport of a Hohenbergia species developed over many years, with an upright, branched inflorescence.
- The only variegated Hohenbergia.
- Grow in bright light to maintain compact tubular shape.
- Probably best grown in a pot due to large size.
- All of the listed plants may not be easy to find but well worth adding to your collection.
Sincoregelia ‘Firecracker’
- Colorful, bigeneric terrestrial hybrid of Sincoraea and Neoregelia.
- Grows best in good potting mix with the addition of some porous rock or coarse sand to aid drainage. Keep mix moist but not water-logged.
- Grow in bright light including some direct sunlight to develop the striking red color.
- Blooms with lavender flowers in center of plant.
Billbergia ‘Poquito Blanco’.
- Grow in well-draining potting mix or epiphytically.
- Prefers bright light to develop the distinctive green and black patterning of the leaves.
- Do not fertilize mature plants until they have bloomed (for pups) or they will lose color and conformation.
- Rapid grower and prolific pupper, makes a great hanging basket.
Neoregelia ‘White Hot Embers’
- Pink marginated leaves, stoloniferous so will form a nice clump for hanging baskets.
- Grow in well-draining mix or epiphytically.
- Prefers bright light for best color.
- Do not fertilize until after plants have bloomed.
Dyckia estevesii
- Rare, slow-growing Brazilian terrestrial species that grows in a distinctive distichous fan-shape.
- Prefers full sun.
- This, like most Dyckias, prefers a well-draining potting mix, but leave the pot sitting in a saucer of water to prevent brown leaftips.
- Lateral inflorescence with yellow orange flowers allows the plant to continue growing after it blooms.
Aechmea egleriana
- Outstanding rarity from the Amazon basin, this is a large spiny Aechmea with a distinctive bulbous base.
- Probably best grown in a pot due to large size.
- Not difficult to grow but cold tender.
- Bloom is a multi-branched panicle of orange berries.