I fell in love with Bromeliads years ago when I lived much further north. As a part of my Landscape Architecture practice, I produced Interiorscape Designs for Regional Shopping Malls. Everyone liked to use Guzmania Bromeliads in the Mall plantings because the flowers lasted for 3 months. I became intrigued by these plants at the time, but it was hopeless for me to grow them as houseplants. Little did I know 30 years later I would have a mad Rainforest Garden full of all kinds of Bromeliads.
When shopping for Bromeliads, the first thing that you find is the named varieties are outrageously expensive. Given my complete lack of knowledge about growing Bromeliads outside I wasn’t about to spend $50 on a plant that I might kill in short order. Then, I found an unusual local custom – at South Florida garage sales, people commonly sell passalong Bromeliads, the problem is, for the most part no one has a clue what the plant is. So, I am learning the hard way. Even without knowing the Bromeliads name, the foliage is always really interesting, as are the people you meet along the way.
I have a number of Blushing Bromeliads in my garden. These can be Aechmea or Neoregelia types and I don’t really know which is who. However, in the spring they blush by turning red in the center and start to produce pups. I would hazard a guess this is because the rainy season will begin shortly and the smaller plants survival rate goes up with ample water. The rest of the year the foliage is nearly all green.
Below is a pup on a Blanchetiana Bromeliad. I think this is a Lemon. They are available in Lemon, Raspberry and Orange. After flowering the mother plant begins to die and produces pups. Some do this without flowering. I will cut the pup off with a bit of root and replant it. The Blanchetiana is an Aechmea type that is fairly common in South Florida, they are usually about 4 feet tall and will spread much further than 4 feet. The Bromeliads at the top of the post are Blanchetianas.
Stripes and spots:
Most of these are Neoregelia, some type of Fireball variety. The spotted ones hold their color for most of the year. The striped ones turn red in the winter. The darker purple ones are Hallelujah Billbergia with white spots and Luca with green spots. Hallelujah has probably the strangest flower of all – red, white and blue; it is a bit much with the foliage.
This last one is one of my favorites. Locally called Painted Fingernail, I think it is an Aechmea variety, literally tough as nails. It is growing in the full sun Hellstrip in my front yard, no irrigation. The foliage is olive in full sun, but the green deepens and the fingernail is darker fuchsia in the shade. And it thrives in both places, there are always good reasons for a passalong.
The Shrub Queen 
That was a fascinating post, thank you. I can only dream of growing plants like this; you have obviously learned a lot; do you now feel confident to spend more on a plant are are there so many interesting varieties available at garage sales that you don’t feel the need to purchase elsewhere? Thanks for joining GBFD with such an interesting post.
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Thank you, Christina. I am not sure I need any more at this point. There is a big blue flowering one called a Blue Tango I would buy now.
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You are right the colours in the leaves are fantastic. Bromeliads are some thing I would struggle with even in a greenhouse!
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Thanks, Steve. They are very easy to grow outside here once you get them in the right spot, it is finding that spot that is the challenge.
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Wonderland yard you have there, Queen. Variegation has always fascinated me.
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Thanks, I love the stripes and chartruese spotted ones.
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I have never had much luck with them and they should be able to grow here. So they like dry or wet soil? Also, rabbits tend to eat them. I don’t know why…good fiber?
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Are you in Zone 8? My sense is the soil where you are would be alkaline leaning and that could be the problem. The more cold hardy ones are the apocalyptas. Nothing eats them here but the Armadilloes dig them up and drives me and my dogs crazy.
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Thanks! I will look into it.
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Very cool. My son and I put together a 40 gallon tadpole tank with a waterfall. It is very humid and will be a great place to experiment with tropical plants. We planted our first bromeliad in there yesterday, the learning begins. Thanks for your info!
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Thank you. Have you seen Grower Jim’s blog? He is around Orlando and grows Bromeliads. I am probably 100 miles south of you.
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They’re gorgeous, Amy. Are those little flowers in the centre of some of them?
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Thank you, Cynthia, I am enjoying learning the ways of the Bromeliad. There are flowers – eventually it is a grouping of small lavendar star shaped flowers and if you are lucky when you peek in there is a lizard hanging out.
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Cynthia, do you know Bits and Pieces blogger?
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No, I don’t, Amy.
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She writes about being a barrel child. Milennial style.
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I think I visited that blog once recently, or one like it.
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She writes about being a barrel child
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Until just now I knew absolutely nothing about these exotics, wonderful!
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Thank you, I am trying to keep up with posting what I learn about these mad plants.
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Meant to tell you, I bought a Leonitis yesterday after seeing it one your blog. A rare plant that will grow in both places!
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Fantastic! We can grow in parallel 😆
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