No, nothing lacking in care and feeding. It's just that different genera and species have different petal shapes. Neo flowers typically open wide like a funnel, whereas some of the Aechmeas, Nidulariums etc. have inwardly-curving petals so that even when they're at anthesis (that perfect moment of receptivity) they don't open very wide and you often have to pry them open by hand if you want to pollinate them. You can still tell when they're ready though, because they will be soft enough to open. The day before that they'll be clamped shut like a vise, and the day after they'll be withered.

There are some plants in nature that have a strictly in-house arrangement, i.e. the flowers self-pollinate without ever opening. I'm not sure if any bromeliads fall into this category or not, but it wouldn't surprise me. Some of the myrmecophytes ("ant plants") like Ae. brevicollis come pretty close. You can still get in there and harvest brevicollis' pollen though, but it will self every time no matter what you do. That's a common "ant plant" adaptation, since the ants, in return for shelter, protect the plant from predators and in the process they keep the pollinators away too.

I'm sure hummingbirds, moths, and bats can zero in on the tiniest of openings. To be able to hover and pollinate at the same time.....Whoa!

Thanks for clearing up that question Lisa.
Plants are sure interesting,and I wish I would have discovered them sooner in my life.
And thanks for the visual picture you created in my mind, hdd. ;^))
Bob