It’s crazy Bromeliad time at the Exotic Garden…
Posted on | August 18, 2010 | 7 Comments
Name unknown - either an Aechmea or Tilandsia – any ideas?
EDP article for Saturday 21st Aug 2010
Visitors to the exotic garden often ask me what they can grow that looks interesting with little or no maintenance. The first thing that comes to mind are the air plants, especially Tilandsias. Like them or hate them, they certainly are interesting, often seen in garden centres stuck onto a small piece of driftwood or bark. I have seen them for sale glued to rather tacky china ornaments as well! These odd looking plants are in the Bromeliad family but far smaller and less showy than their colourful cousins the Neoregelias and Aechmeas. Like many Bromeliads, air plants are epiphytes – plants that grow on other plants such as trees, rocks or anything that doesn’t move. I have even seen them growing on telegraph cables in the Caribbean. They are non-parasitical; meaning they don’t take nutrients from the host plant, instead their small root system is used for anchorage. Epiphytes do not require soil as they derive water and nutrients directly through their leaves in the form of dust, decaying leaf matter or insect remnants, though they are not carnivorous. The reason they can be seen on telegraph lines is because birds eat the seeds which are subsequently excreted anywhere birds happen to perch!
Tilandsia species grown on telephone wires in the Caribbean
Bromeliad species grow epiphytically on trees in the Caribbean that become so heavy over time that whole branches come crashing to the ground
Although not normally cultivated for their flowers, some air-plants will bloom on a regular basis if they are looked after. In addition, it is quite common for some species to take on a different leaf colour (usually changing from green to red) when about to flower. This is an indication that the plant is monocarpic (flowers once before dying) but offsets around the flowering plant will continue to thrive producing quite large specimens with time.
These rather odd looking plants hail from the deserts, forests and mountainous regions of central and South America through Mexico to the southern states of North America. Most of the air-plants that grow here at the Exotic Garden are quite small, so having them close to my front door allows me to enjoy their beauty every time I have the pleasure of passing them. During the frost free months of the year some are hung from wires attached to the balcony over the entrance, or pushed at random onto the sides of other plants and Bromeliads or gently pushed into the trunks of tree ferns where they look spectacular. It took me a while to succumb to the bizarre beauty of air-plants as they are not particularly showy, but have an intricate charm of their own and when in bloom look absolutely wonderful.
Tilandsia species growing on a Bromeliad in the garden
They are not frost hardy so are housed from November to May in one of my Polytunnels where they happily overwinter with the occasional misting at a minimum of 5C (41F) checking periodically for any mould that might form on them, though they have always been fine with me as they seem fairly tough and resilient.
My oldest plant is Tillandsia bergeri which I bought on the island Of Madeira some six years ago. Over the years it has formed a round ball 30cm (1ft) across made up of about 20 greyish-green spiky rosettes which blooms in April when still under cover. The flowers are small and beautifully formed with deep pink bracts with intense three-petalled purplish blue flowers. It is one of the most commonly available and a good starter plant.
Tillandsia bergeri flowering in April under cover
Tillandsia bergeri flower detail
I purchased half a dozen new Tilandsias at the Sandringham flower show a few weeks ago with big white labels, which is a must as some of them look very similar. Unfortunately I left them outside during the recent rains to discover that the labels had been written on with non-permanent ink, so I now have more un-named plants to add to my collection – hmmm!
Several other Bromeliads in the garden are in flower, coming into bloom, or just look good with their dazzling foliage. One in particular that is new to me this year is a very fiery Bromeliad called Neophytum ‘Galactic Warrior’ and what a ridiculously over-the-top plant it is! It has fairly thin strap-like leaves with small sharp spines along the edges. In the spring the whole plant was palest fuchsia pink, but now high summer sun has morphed it to a much deeper fiery red that almost glows.
Neophytum ‘Galactic Warrior’
Another bromeliad that is showing off in the garden at the moment is Vriesea splendens from South America with the majority being native to Brazil. I have a group of three as a garden table decoration where I can admire them while having breakfast or at any other time of day come to that – it’s one of those plants that always catches your eye when passing as it is so ridiculously colourful. This showy Bromeliad is a rosette-forming plant with arching, strap-like olive-green leaves with prominent dark reddish-brown bands regularly splashed across each leaf. If this isn’t stunning enough, an intense red bract rises from the centre which lasts for weeks followed by another show of bright yellow flowers produced along the sides of each fiery bract before it finally withers away after several months have passed.
Vriesea splendens in full bloom
Bromeliads in all their different forms deserve to be grown during the summer in our gardens and for those gardeners that find bringing plants under cover in the autumn is rather a chore or have nowhere to store them, there are always the hardy bromeliads like Fascicularia bicolour which is just starting to come into bloom, or its close cousin Fascicularia Pitcairnifolia. Ochagavia carnea is another Bromeliad that came through last winters’ frosts without a mark and they are also drought tolerant. From air-plants to the large hardy Bromeliads there are plants to suit all tastes, something new to consider for the garden.
Fascicularia Pitcairnifolia in flower
Ochagavia carnea coming into bloom
Comments
7 Responses to “It’s crazy Bromeliad time at the Exotic Garden…”
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August 19th, 2010 @ 12:52 am
This kind of post gets the Plant Lust going on overdrive. Must have Neophytum ‘Galactic Warrior’!
August 19th, 2010 @ 3:41 am
bloody nice blog Sir Will… luv the broms and their flowers.
Pe’tah (Ian’s brother)
August 23rd, 2010 @ 1:51 am
Hello Unc.
Mom, Alicia, Olivia and myself have had a look at your videos on Youtube. How has your garden been for you this summer? Have you had lots of visitors to your garden? Hope all is well.
Darren
August 23rd, 2010 @ 12:02 pm
Hi Darren – good to hear from you. The garden has performed marvellously this summer. I was really worried after the worst winter for over two decades if I would be able to put on such a good show this summer, but the early warm weather this year has made all the plants grow like mad. The feedback I’m getting on garden open days is fantastic with over 100 visitors every Sunday. You should visit in the summer, far better than February old chap…
August 28th, 2010 @ 4:47 pm
Dear Will
I hope you dont mind but wanted to know the answer to your picture/plant type query above myself:
“Aechmea or Tilandsi???”
Here are some responses I received on the RHS Forum which may be of interest:
http://mygarden.rhs.org.uk/forums/t/28117.aspx
Rachel (Brug lover)
September 20th, 2010 @ 11:49 pm
Hi Will,
You garden keeps going from strength to strength. Wow!
On the subject of hardy bromeliads – will billbergia nutans (hope I’ve spelt the correctly) make it through the winter outside in SE England?
Regards
Colin
September 23rd, 2010 @ 2:02 pm
Rachel – I am pretty sure that this one is in fact Billbergia pyramidalis striata, a lovely plant. I am trying to build up a collection of the more unusual Billbergias…
Hi Colin – Billbergia nutans will survive most winters, though last winter clobbered mine!