Roundabout the Fourth of July the Miniata Bromeliad started to flower. I thought how wonderful and patriotic – sort of red, white and blue. This is a rare find, a smaller reliable flowering Bromeliad that thrives in nearly full shade.
A member of the Aechmea genus, native to Brazil. The foliage is olive with burgundy backsides and not too sharp. The leaves will burn in the sun, especially in the hot midday sun. I cut the Strangler Fig that shades this plant back a little too much and the leaves are complaining by producing burnt spots and edges.
The flower lasts for weeks and does well cut in vases.
A. miniata flowers
The Shrub Queen 
Wow! I’ve never seen that before, beautiful!
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Thanks, the whole reason for the blog posts.
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It’s very striking, both on the plant or in a vase. The lacy collar of fern is a nice foil for it.
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Thanks, Eliza.
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That is the perfect Fourth of July flower. I have one that is similar that is light blue with hot pink. It usually blooms in the Fall and I believe I bought it for shade. I can’t remember the name, but could it be related?
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I don’t know send a picture later and maybe we can figure out what it is.
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Okay, Amy. That’s seriously gorgeous.
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Thank you, I enjoy these.
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Wow!
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How cool and weird.
Lily-of-the-Nile is a perfect flower for the Fourth of July too, but needs red to go with it. The blue or white blooms even look like fireworks.
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I agree, they are weird and I had no clue what they were when I bought them at a garage sale. If only my agapanthus flowered!!
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How odd that they don’t. Is it because they don’t know when the seasons happen? I mean, do they need a bit of a chill in winter? They do well in San Diego.
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It could be, or the soil here is beach sand, it may not retain enough moisture for flowers. I think you see them upcountry in Maui but not near the beach.
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It seems to me that if the sand were a problem, the foliage would not be healthy either. Even unhappy agapanthus bloom.
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The foliage doesn’t look that great! So far, Rain Lilies, Amaryllis, Hymenocallis and Crinum are the bulbs that will live and thrive here.
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That really is weird. Agapanthus is not at all demanding. I think of the other bulbs as being more finicky.
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