Hi everyone

Catter44 - You could be correct with your ID of the first plant, I would guess either Vr. splendens or Vr 'Splenriet'.

Your second plant look to be an Aechmea chantinii or an Ae. chantinii hybrid.

You can now check those names against the pictures and text in the Photo Index of the FCBS site at http://www.fcbs.org/pictures.htm or the Bromeliad Cultivar Register at http://registry.bsi.org/

All the best, Nev.

Catter44- Nev is correct. Your second plant is almost certainly an Aechmea chantinii. It is a fairly variable species, with some varieties exhibiting dense banding, sparse banding, no banding, and varying colors of scape bracts from orange to red, and pink. There are also some exciting variegated and albomarginate cultivars! Nev has given you some excellent websites to start your research.
Where in Ohio do you live?
I live in Farmington Hills, MI
I have a website about the bromeliads that I grow, primarily hybrids that I grow from seed.

Here is a link that might be useful: Paul's Bromeliads

Hi Paul - So pleased you dropped in, I did previously have your website (on another computer) and when it died I lost it. Now you've posted it again I can see what you've been up to since I last looked.

All the best, Nev.

Well, thank you to the both of you for responding with such wonderful information and pointing out further sites for me to explore! I now am certain that I have a Vr. Splenriet who is producing two more pups in the center rosette. I was so excited about this that I went back to the store where I purchased this plant and bought another one who is producing three pups in the center cup. Fascinated by this but wonder how in the world to divide. You sure can not find much information on line about Vrieseas. I did find quite a bit of info. on aechmeas. I also ordered a book today that was recommended by the Hawaiin Bromelian Society for beginners. I am excited. I have a small green house attached to my house and I have collected orchids, Tillandisas and stag horn ferns for awhile but I am new to many of the other bromeliads other than Tillies. Paul I jumped over to your site-WOW-wonderful. I will spend some time tonight looking over your beautiful site. I love to read and research so if you have any good books to recomend or other sites to share, please let me know. I do not like to lose a plant so I really try to have all the info. I can on them. I live near Columbus, OH and I am fortunate to have a southern exposure sun room for my plants. I imagine like MI, we do not have a lot of sun shine in the winter. Before I had so many plants, I would more them around the room following the sun in the winter. Now I have too many to move but they do pretty good. We will see what happens this winter with all my new bromeliad purchases. I need to stop.....but just can not seem to say no...Thanks again to the both of you, Cat.

Cat,
Once you get started exploring those 2 sites, you'll find that you can spend hours browsing through all the photos. It can get rather addictive! The link on fcbs.org - Book Reviews- can give you a good sense of the books that have been written, although many of the books may be difficult to come by. Another website that is gaining traction is a Facebook group- Planet Bromeliad. I've been following that page for about a year, and make an occasional post there as well. Membership in the Bromeliad Society International includes the 'Journal of the Bromeliad Society', a 72 page publication which is printed quarterly, plus access to back issues going all the way back to 1951!

Many of the "foliage" type Vrieseas tend to pup in the center, or midway from the center to the outermost leaves, and I agree, it can be messy to split things up, particularly if you try to do it too soon. There's not an absolute need to divide your Vr. 'Splenreit'. It can look impressive if you have 3 mature plants in the same pot, especially if they happen to bloom at the same time. If you want to divide it, I like to wait until all or most of the leaves from the mother plant (below the pups) have dried up and been removed. At that point, the pups should be nearing maturity, but you'll find that they are easy (or easier) to separate at that time. Hope this helps. It sounds like your greenhouse is in danger of being completely overtaken by bromeliads!

Paul