Some call them 'hurricane bromeliad', and others 'foolproof plant'. If I could come up with a common name myself it would be 'bubble-gum-cotton-candy-plant' for the velvety delicious looking inflorescences that froth up from a swirl of glossy green leaves late every summer. Maybe it's a good thing that I don't make the decisions when it comes to naming plants. Oh to hell with it. I'd do a great job naming plants!
These are some of the only bromeliads that I see planted residentially up here in Jacksonville, so I'm a little skeptical whenever I read about how sensitive they are to cold. While the ones pictured here are from zone 9b/10a Winter Park, mine weather the cold just fine to 20 degrees Fahrenheit with no freeze protection.
I especially like seeing these piled around the bases of live oaks so that they can slowly revert back to their epiphytic roots by climbing back up the trunk and into the branches. I would like to see more bromeliad variety around these parts, but I'll never get tired of seeing those lushly tropical shiny leaves and cotton candy bubble gum flowers.
In the shade where you see so many bubble gums candies popping out... it's simply a marvellous sight to behold. I know Steve. I have seen it happening here myself :-D
ReplyDeleteAnd I have this plant in my garden. I have been growing it from a pup that was sent out from the mother plant that withered last year. Its flower is still not out yet but new pups are already growing from the sides.
what a great name! yes i love these in my garden even if they are "common"
ReplyDeleteI love your name! Of course! Haha! And I sure wish we could grow these beauties outside here. But it is wayyyy to hot!
ReplyDeleteI think your name for this plant is much more imaginative and apt. Mine are just starting to bloom. They are a neighborhood favorite too. When they are all blooming it is quite beautiful.
ReplyDeleteThey are totally cold hardy in St Augustine. I have been growing them for over 20 years.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to give them a shot up here in Charleston - wish me luck!
ReplyDeleteThey grow very well here in Borneo . They are especially beautiful when are all in bloom . They grow so well that i often have to throw some away or else they will take over the whole garden .
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