Bromeliads 2026

[Looking Glass]

I’ve been cleaning up the garden beds recently, and they are packed with bromeliads.  Here’s some of my favorites so far this year.  

 

 

They really start to multiply over the years.   

 

[JohnAndSancho]

57 minutes ago, Looking Glass said:

I’ve been cleaning up the garden beds recently, and they are packed with bromeliads.  Here’s some of my favorites.

They really start to multiply over the years.   

 

I absolutely love these. The variety of the color, the cups make them seem like they'd be easier to water, frogs seem to like them, but I'm fighting with myself so hard not to fall in love with another variety of plant. The idea of a one-stop tropical shop sounded really cool until uhhh yeah some things get huge. And some things get expensive. Anyway pardon the ADHD post, your broms are gorgeous. 

[Jonathan]

Looking great @Looking Glass...I'm only just getting started with broms really, but they're dangerously addictive! My climate is less benign than yours, so they’re mostly under cover at the moment until I can get enough pups to see who can survive outside here.

A few Tills and various others in the laboratory:

[Looking Glass]

8 minutes ago, Jonathan said:

Looking great @Looking Glass...I'm only just getting started with broms really, but they're dangerously addictive! My climate is less benign than yours, so they’re mostly under cover at the moment until I can get enough pups to see who can survive outside here.

A few Tills and various others in the laboratory:

Nice collection you have there.   I think that the types that are super happy vary from climate to climate.   You see consistent variations on the local collectors pages from region to region.  Luckily there are so many different types to fit most conditions.  I have a good feel for what does well in my yard at this point.   
 

 

 

[Jonathan]

12 hours ago, Looking Glass said:

Nice collection you have there.   I think that the types that are super happy vary from climate to climate.   You see consistent variations on the local collectors pages from region to region.  Luckily there are so many different types to fit most conditions.  I have a good feel for what does well in my yard at this point.   
 

 

 

I think that's the key for sure, figuring a not too unreasonable climate match. Cloud forest palms, Ceroxylon, Chamaedoreas, etc do well here, so I've been looking for broms from the Andes or high altitude Central America, which is fun! SE Brazil seems promising too...a slippery slope, lol!

[Looking Glass]

Sun exposure changes them quite a bit also.  I just ran across this post demonstrating different growing conditions on the Neo “Lambert’s Pride”.  In general, a lot of folks greatly underestimate the amount of sun that Neoregelia, Aechmea, Billbergia and Hohenbergia want to look their best.   Here a lot of sun exposure in the cool winter months can bring out a lot of color   

[Looking Glass]

These are the same Neo Cruenta x Vulcan clone, in the yard right now, 10 feet apart.  One in all day sun out in the open, the other part sun under canopy.   They look like totally different plants. 

 

[JohnAndSancho]

I hate that I live somewhere that the climate changes from hell to Siberia. 

[happypalms]

Absolutely beautiful, a work of art and colour! 

[happypalms]

On 3/31/2026 at 8:08 AM, Jonathan said:

Looking great @Looking Glass...I'm only just getting started with broms really, but they're dangerously addictive! My climate is less benign than yours, so they’re mostly under cover at the moment until I can get enough pups to see who can survive outside here.

A few Tills and various others in the laboratory:

Absolutely beautiful again! 

[Jonathan]

On 4/1/2026 at 1:48 AM, Looking Glass said:

These are the same Neo Cruenta x Vulcan clone, in the yard right now, 10 feet apart.  One in all day sun out in the open, the other part sun under canopy.   They look like totally different plants. 

 

It's quite amazing really, but makes it very difficult to ID species or varieties if they're unknown! I can't think of another group of plants, off hand,  that respond so dramatically to growing conditions?