Good idea to start a thread like this, Dennis.

I love my bills too. The first ones that came to mind are mostly species.
Here are my Top Five Favourites.

1.Billbergia alfonsi-joannis
2.Bill. zebrina
3.Bill. amoena red form/rubra
4.Bill. sanderiana
5.Bill. 'Darth Vader' (thanks to Gonzer's recent photo)

Cheers,
Kerry

Here are my best 5 in my current collection.

Bill. Hallalujah

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Bill. Muriel Waterman, the pups get that nice silver scurf.

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Bill. Poquito Blanco

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Bill. ?? Is about the size of PB.

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Bill Fantasia ?

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And thanks to the photos of Bills in other posts I've started a wish list, which seems to be growing all the time!

Pulling teeth would be easier. Only five huh? in no particular order:
1) "Pink Patches" biggest and baddest

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2) "Incendiary Delight"

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3) "Esther" it just has a clean look

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4) "Deliciosa"

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5) this is a tie between....

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and

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and while I'm here, 'ol Darth must have gotten frisky since yesterday

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I'm much too biased to answer this question! Naturally I have a special affection for my own, but I'd be hard-pressed to give you a top 5. Besides, most of my favorites haven't been released yet!

Leaving those aside, B. vittata cv. Domingos Martins has to be the single best Bill species on earth. It's hard to make a bad hybrid with it, but after a while they all start to look alike. Hallelujah is still a stand-out, though, and a perennial favorite. Bellisima is one of my most recent acquisitions and I really love it! Caramba is always a show-stopper, and I couldn't live without Pink Champagne, one of my other favorites to work with.

Holy crap, Gonzer, you snuck that in while I was writing! Do me a favor and grab your camera and just stand there and wait. I have never known DV to bloom and Derek wants a picture of it for the registry, so I'm entrusting you to do the dirty deed! Think you can handle?

It was pretty funny to see your comment about Darth never blooming in the other thread a minute ago and then come here and see Gonzer's photo!

Don't waste those flowers Gonz, I'm sure you have plenty of suitors over there.

I want Bills that grow on trees. Anybody got pics of that? I've been trying it myself, but I'm not having much luck so far.

Devo and Gonzer,
Very nice plants indeed.

Bil. MurielWaterman grown in low light.
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Bil. FredRed
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Bil. Strawberry
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Bil. Hallelujah - Mine is grown in low light and looks dark green unlike the photo, I'll have to give him some more light to look like Devo's fine example.
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I know that's not five but my others aren't worthy of a photo.

Rick

Hey Winer, here are a few that seem to be doing OK. They were just pups that were tied straight onto the main trunk of these Cordyline australis a few years ago. They've been very slow growing, but now are starting to clump up & give a decent flowering display.

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Great pics guys......"Fredred" "Incendiary Delight", Devos "Fantasia", "Darth" and "Deliciosa" added to my list.

Gonz - quite a collection there!

I have also found that Bills are slow to attach to their "host", but once they pup the results ca be seen in Devos pics!

I will take a few pics of some of mine and post!

Cheers

Dennis

It's good to see the dear old bills getting some exposure.

Great clumps in those trees Andrew - in fact lots of great pics from everyone. I LOVE that Incendiary Delight Gonz. It made me look up that word in a dictionary. Incendiary = tending to stir up conflict or controversy. Ha! Good name!

Winter - I agree with Dennis and Andrew about them taking a little while to get going, but they root happily (!) to branches and look good as single specimens or in clumps. I like the way growing them epiphytically shows their form off well.

Here are some of mine in trees.

My very favourite alfonsi-joannis. It roots quickly and is very tough - but soooo slow growing.

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horrida v. tigrina
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Doreen Johnston
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amoena red form
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macrocalyx
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Pink Champagne
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Platinum
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Ralph Graham French
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Red Raven
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sanderiana
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brasiliensis
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Murial Waterman
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Rubro-Cyanea
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Santa Barbara
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unknown - any suggestions??

Domingos Martins

Cheers,
Kerry

Thanks for the pics Kerry.

Hi Kerry

Flippin heck!!! Abso fab! You are the queen of mounting Bills!

Your unknown looks like Sangre. Now I am not an expert (I have yet to see my ones flower) so its more of a guess but see pic below and see what you reckon!

Your pic of B.macrocalyx has just ID my unknown plants!!! Thanks, mine finished flowering a week or so ago.

Now I realise I need to invest in a B.alfonsi-joannis. What a stunner!

Some more pics!

The Artist
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La bamba (I reckon it should be called salami)
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And Sangre
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Dennis - aw gee, thank you!

You could be right about my unknown being Sangre. Thanks! It does look like yours and the pics on the fcbs photo index. I had suspected it might have horrida v. tigrina in its parentage, due to the flower shape, and Sangre fits the bill... (excuse the pun!)

Your La Bamba certainly does look like salami - ha ha!

Cheers,
Kerry