Bromeliads Are Pretty Cool Too

Bromeliads are considered a "keystone species," meaning they're important to the survival of a variety of living organisms in their environment. The "tank" that the leaves form gets filled with water that not only does the plant use, it creates a habitat with food and shelter for animals, insects, microorganisms and even other plants. I won't get started on here into the estimates of how many gallons of water an acre of a forest containing bromeliads can hold, estimates on how many organisms they support. The point being is they help and in some cases exclusively support life around and in them through some complex co-evolution.

Now here in my tiny corner of the world, they aren't so important, but they appear to be of value anyway. Quesnelia marmorata 'Tim Plowman' has been home to this particular frog since I moved it outside for the summer.

This Anole lizard was hiding in and about them catching bugs the other day. He blends in pretty well with this green Hohenbergia too.

I've developed a bit of a collection, and recently moved them all outside for the summer again. I love that animals are enjoying having them here too.

The genus Hohenbergia might just be my favorite.

Left to Right: Hohenbergia leopoldo-horstii, Hoh. edmundoi Chapada Diamantina clone, unnamed Hoh. hybrid 

View from above, l love the long tubular shapes these make.

Hohenbergia species #357 (an unnamed Brazilian species,) with two Neoregelia in front

Hohenbergia 'Karla', a variegated sport that was produced by a Hoh. magnispina

One of my favorite features in any genus is spines. The more careful you have to be when repotting the bigger a fan I am of the plant.

Billbergia sanderiana

Androlepis skinneri
This one murdered my arms trying to get it from the store to my car and back out to the yard again. It was meant to be.

Aechmea orlandiana 'Ensign'

This Aechmea nudicaulis 'Parati' is a new one I recently potted up. Aside from features like spiked leaves, one of the best parts about growing bromeliads is how easily they can be shared and shipped. After the main plant flowers, it'll make offsets, or "pups" to propagate itself and the mother plant will eventually die. Some mother plants make pups before flowering, like this one, and should make a nice clump of plants over time.

By now you've probably noticed the chopsticks throughout these photos. The ones that had arrived without roots are staked in place with them. It works perfectly to keep them stable while they root, as you can't bury the base of the plant without risking rotting epiphytic bromeliads like this one.

There are some bromeliads that make pups often and form nice looking clumps more easily than others.

Neoregelia 'Zoe' & Neoregelia Fireball

If you have the patience, starting with one single pup can be a super cheap way to start what will be a nice clump of plants like the above eventually.

Neoregelia punctatissima 'Yellow Banded' and Neoregelia ampullacia red form (putting out it's 1st offset on a long stolon.)

With such easy maintenance and many being cold tolerant enough to stay outside all year here, (seriously, my Home Depot Vriesea hybrid tolerates the occasional frost,) it's hard not to wind up with a serious collection over time.

Side note: As an FYI, my Catopsis berternoniana from California Carnivores is actually (99% sure, sent in for ID) a Catopsis morreniana. So if you've purchased one from CC last summer as well, you've likely got a morreniana too. Why am I so sure? Mines making 3 pups, berteroniana only makes one. The flowers and overall size at maturity are different as well if that wasn't enough. Back on the hunt for a legit C. berternoniana :( 

Quesnelia marmorata 'Tim Plowman'

Any of you that have ever looked over my "want" list have seen Quesnelia marmorata cv. 'Tim Plowman' has been there since forever. As a purchaser of mostly Nepenthes, bromeliads are not often at the top of my list but after cruising eBay (terrible habit) one of the better looking ones I've seen listed had me finally pulling the trigger.

Quesnelia marmorata 'Tim Plowman'

Not only did I pay well under retail but the seller threw in an extra, a decent sized Quesnelia marmorata. How cool is that?! Rarely do many vendors do this anymore, so I certainly didn't expect it from an eBay purchase.

Quesnelia marmorata

Now, I'm no bromeliad expert so I read a lot about this species and ended up changing how I had originally potted it up. According to what few sources sounded like they had a clue about growing Quesnelia, they like it on the dry side. Normally I'd pot epiphytic bromeliads like Neoregelia in a mix with orchid bark or mulch, perlite, and regular garden soil. So I'm trying this one with orchid bark, perlite, and hydroton. Seeing as how these are epiphytes, you could just mount them and be done with it too for any epiphytic bromeliad. Mounted typically require watering more often than potted though, and I don't always have time for that so we'll see how my potting mix works out.

Quesnelia marmorata (left) & Quesnelia marmorata cv. 'Tim Plowman' (right)

There seems to be some conflicting information regarding the curliness of  'Tim Plowman.' I've read that the true cultivar will retain it's curly leaves despite cultural conditions, and then I've read that watering too much or various otherwise worse than ideal cultural conditions can cause it to lose it's curliness. I certainly have no plans on growing this any other way than you're supposed to, (dry and in the sunlight,) so it shouldn't be an issue for me. It does make me wonder if there are other curly leaved forms that maybe resemble the 'Tim Plowman' cultivar that people have either accidentally assumed are that cultivar or purposefully passed off as such to make plants more valuable. Seeing as how the 'Rafael Oliveira' cultivar was also found in the wild and also has curly leaves, I'd bet there's not only more out there, but many intermediate forms as well that maybe do react to cultural conditions more so than others.


In other news, I really need to create a black background to take plant photos in front of, one of these days.

Edited: Catopsis morreniana (Originally Catopsis berteroniana )

Edit: Unfortunately this is a Catopsis morreniana. I'll leave the rest of the post as is, but wanted to put this at the top for people coming across this post. I purchased this from California Carnivores, summer 2015, if you've purchased yours around the same place same time, this note is for you. Catopsis berteroniana only produces one pup at a time, mine currently is working on it's 3rd from the same mother plant. Catopsis berteroniana also has larger flowers and it much larger at maturity, with a variety of other minor difference irrelevant at this point for a positive ID.

Thanks to a tip last spring from Natch Grayes, I got a hold of a Catopsis berteroniana. This is one of the few Bromeliads thought to be carnivorous. I decided I needed one when I learned part of it's natural range includes Southern Florida. So although I may have to bring it inside as the weather is starting to get cooler now, it should do very well here outside the rest of the year.

I totally forgot to post pictures of it blooming this summer. I've been so busy with other things, I haven't posted pictures of much of anything for a while :(

The flowers aren't particularly exciting, but the fact that it flowered is great because...

We've got pups! Only two so far, not sure if that's typical for these, but I'm just happy that it's happy.

Now that I'm forced to bring more cold sensitive plants inside for "winter" I'm reminded to take pictures, so more to come as I have quite a few things I'm excited to share. Happy New Year, hope you all are well and your plants grow spectacularly in 2016!

Off Topic: Field Trips

I was informed recently, you can get your masters degree in botany in the Philippines. If I wasn't already considering how I could possibly, ever, afford to go back to school (for a CRNA to be an anesthetist, 1st choice) this would be another choice for furthering my education. You know, just for fun. There are worse ways to spend fifty grand than on education, right?

Anyway, a friend sent me this video in an email of Nepenthes close to the summit of Mt. Trus Madi, the same day I learned that I did in fact, want to go to the Philippines to study plants. I'm sure this is not a coincidence. A quick trip to Borneo wouldn't be out of the question if I was going to school in that part of the world. However, there's also the fact that a week trip would cost less than a masters degree. Less long term value, but only maybe.




Or maybe I've just been spending too much time inside buildings lately. I never took a chance to go explore any of the native CP's and orchids in NY or the surrounding states. I missed an opportunity to go exploring with my mom and brother while he was visiting, (they went to one of the state parks here,) due to work. Florida has quite a few native and naturalized species of orchids, bromeliads, and carnivorous plants. Sarracenia leucophylla grows naturally in the panhandle, five other species of Sarracenia in other parts of Florida, not to mention all the different orchids, bromeliads, and other plant oddities.

I think a local field trip might be in order before it gets too hot to want to. Start adventures on a smaller scale, then work up to the more difficult (costlier) ones. Looks like a lot of the orchid's peak flowering season is in June, but I'm thinking I won't wait that long. I'll take along the camera. May not be quite the view that Mt. Trus Madi offers, but it's interesting in it's own way, including being right in my backyard.

Tillandsia butzii bloom and a cool spider moves onto the deck

This Tillandsia finally bloomed, one flower at a time unfortunately. Maybe once it gets larger it'll be more exciting when it blooms?

Kind of boring, sorry. I'm growing Tillandsia more for the foliage than the bloom anyway. So while we're  waiting on some more things in bud to flower, there's this spider living out there on the deck now. It's a Gasteracantha cancriformis, or "Spiny Orb Weaver," native to the Southeast US.

Gasteracantha cancriformis from the back

The underside

Not venomous to humans or animals, she can stay as long as she wants. I'm hoping she'll help keep the creepers off the orchids to her left.

Woot! Birthday Gifts!

I know I said that if my Tillandsia bulbosa did well here that I'd probably look into getting some more. They're nice and wacky looking, plus small sized ones work well for the space issues of apartment growing. A super nice friend sent me this Tillandsia butzii for my birthday. So hooray, my collection has increased to two! Thank you again!

The whole plant

Flower spike!

What a cool pattern!

My husband had to import this CD for me, Black Sun Empire: Lights and Wires. For those that know me personally you know how much I listen to D&B and how much I love Black Sun Empire, so this is right up there on top of the list of things I really, really, like.




Last but not least, from my mom, (who clearly let me pick out this gift,) a Nepenthes I'm waiting on. It's a good one, I'll share when it gets here. I keep obsessively checking the USPS Track & Confirm website like a crazy person. I cannot handle the anticipation of a package coming in the mail. It's even worse when I can check on it for updates of every sort facility it comes into and leaves en route. I swear Track & Confirm is like a blessing and a curse because I want to know, but can't handle seeing a package get to my post office, but not be out for delivery yet. Or, even worse, it get sent to the wrong place and get rerouted like when I ordered my N. robcantleyi and it took an extra three days to get here. That was a rough one. That was back when robcantleyi was limited in numbers, tiny, and the most expensive plant I'd ever bought, (still is to this day.) Straight up fear was involved.

I have no idea what I'm doing again (Alternate Title: New Plant! Tillandsia bulbosa)

There's a certain Farmer's Market Store that has a really nice garden center, but you have to cross a bridge ($1.50 to get back over, not bad, but something to consider) and it's about 35 minutes from me. Occasionally I have to go that way anyway, like today, so I stopped in on my way home.

I haven't really considered Tillansia until just now. Sure they are pretty, but I guess being used to seeing them glued to fridge magnets and other tacky decorations over the years has turned me off to them. This is unfortunate because it's really not the fault of Tillandsia, so I shouldn't take my distaste out on them.

Today they had tons of little plastic bags with *GASP* CORRECTLY LABELED SPECIES! Just kill me now, you've spotted my weakness. They were all really nice too, especially xerographica and streptophylla. But this little guy was the weirdest looking one I've ever seen so it had to be mine.

Whole plant

Close up of the nice purple lining the leaves have. Wish I could find better lighting, wasn't working out today.

So now I have a Tillandsia bulbosa. I'm considering hanging it, or I'll find a tasteful mount for it. No magnets, ceramic lizards, or glass globes with sand, (That's cool if that's your thing, but it's not my taste, so don't get offended here.) I also refuse to glue it to anything. I know this is fine for the plant, but I can't do it, so no.

If it does well I'll probably end up with a few more. Care seems pretty easy, if anything it won't get watered as often as it should, but it should be able to handle that sort of neglect.

It seems to me like Tillandsia falls in and out of favor with the plant crowd. I used to see them everywhere when I was a kid, then haven't seen them in years, now they are everywhere again, (lately unlabeled and in some sort of home decoration piece where it's almost certain to not get enough light.) It's interesting how certain types of plants are "cool" for a while and sold everywhere, then you can't find them at all. How do these trends work and who pushes them? Seasonal trends are one thing, but "tropical" plants seem to be popular, or not, for years at a time.