Looks like a bloom coming soon,Sander.
Seems to happen with Billbergias after a good Summer growing season.
I had none bloom during our Summer,but from November on,
I've had seven go into bloom just about at the same time.
Bob

Yup, you've got bud! Billbergias tend to be winter bloomers. I get a few during other times of the year, but most of them come in between October and March here, with the heaviest flush around January.

Nice!

Bill is in a pretty cold spot, 15C (59F) and a bit lower at night but he doesn't seem to mind.
This is the first ever mounted one blooming for me. I fertilize it once a month with 50% orchid fert.

I'll post the progress.

Sander

Hi Sander,
Am pleased your hotly-debated billbergia is finally coming into flower. Pity it isn't going to flower in summer to contrast with the red leaves. You do a fantastic job with your broms under adverse conditions - hats off to you!
Here are some photos of what I consider is a Billbergia amoena - red form, growing in very bright light in a tree in my garden. I do not fertilise it at all. And I promise I have not enhanced those colours - it's just how it looks in natural strong light. Let's see if your flower spike is the same as mine.

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Japie, you will be pleased to know that mine did survive the minus 8 degrees Celsius black frost of last winter - in fact it seems to have forced more pups to develop.

Cheers,
Kerry

Oops! Sorry....meant to say Sander, not Japie.

K

Minus 8! That's spectacular Kerry!
Was that for just one night or for a few days?
That coulor is spectacular.

I hope the flower sheds some light on the matter, can't wait.

Sander

Hey Sander,

We had minus 8 two nights in a row - pipes frozen solid, all broms plugged with ice, even in my shade house and under trees. The coldest in recorded history......was very very sad at the damage it did, not just the broms - my trees were hit badly as well. Now there are large dead branches waiting to fall on the recovering understory plants/broms - and new growth coming from the trunks, disforming their natural, mature shape.....sob
I suppose Mother Nature decided we couldn't have it all....

Your Bill's spike should be getting higher now. Looking forward to seeing the next photos.

Cheers,
Kerry

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That's about 1 cm a day.

Sander

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Exactly one month since I discovered the spike and on my birthday.
Now what?
Self pollinate???????
No other Bills in flower.

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Looks like an Amoena flower to me.
But it also still looks very much like Bill Hellfire that has Amoena's as grandparents so I'm still not sure what it is.

Sander

Here is a link that might be useful: Hellfire

Happy birthday, Sander!

It does look very similar to Hellfire, although there seems to be just a bit less blue on your inflorescence. My amoena rubra just finished blooming, I'll have to go check and see how much blue was on there (if they haven't dried up too much yet). In any event, I think you're safe in calling it amoena. Both of Hellfire's parents are forms of amoena, so there's no other species in there. It's definitely an amoena flower.

As to what to do with the pollen, you could collect it and store it in the refrigerator until you have another Bill blooming. I don't know if this one will self-pollinate, many don't. Even if it did, do you really want a bunch of seedlings of the same thing? If you do, then go ahead and try it. I have a feeling the offspring may be variable in the amount of red coloration they inherit though.

As a follow-up to the old post of my B. amoena var. rubra from Seaborn, I've concluded that the plant in question is amoena var. viridis. The rubra I just got from Michael's is nothing like the earlier spotted plant, just a mirror of Sanders' plant.

Yup, Michael took over Don Beadle's Billbergia collection when he bought the place, Gonzer. Don was not only the most knowledgeable person I know of when it came to Bills, but he was also extremely meticulous about labeling, so those names should all be right on the money unless there's been a taxonomic change since then.

Now, all we have to do is get Bob to change the tags at the BBG.....

I have no Bills coming, unless my 'red Nutans' decides to flower after all.

I'll try to self it anyhow, just to see what happens, I don't mind a bunch of Amoena's.

And I can't wait till this one pups.

Sander.

Happy birthday Sander! Hope you're having a great day :)

Do you, and Lisa, and Gonzer also think my bill is amoena rubra? See earlier photos on this thread.

Cheers,
Kerry

Thanks Kerry

I think we have the same plants and mine does not have as much blue as Helfire so it must be Amoena rubra.

Here is some more detail.
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Sander

Yes, I checked mine and it looks like that too.

Nice detail, Sander! What kind of camera are you using?

It's hard to resist pollinating the Bills because the pollen is so bright and the stigma is right out there! Much easier to see what you're doing than the Neos, and the seed sets up faster too.

Thanks for checking, finally we are sure what it is.

I have a four or five year old Fuji S304 that needs very much light to focus, but I'm getting a Pentax K100D super very soon. Not the slip in your pocket kinda stuff that you are looking for.

I have self pollinated to see what happens, very nice to see what you are doing indeed. So maybe another Amoena update in a while.

Sander

Hi Sander

I am very jealous of your flowering amoena Rubra! So I will wait anciously for winter to come so I can also see what mine's flower look like, BUT, in the meantime the plant has decided to give me a pup to keep me happy!

I have been trying since Friday to add this picture for you, but had problems with my broadband connection. There was a problem at our local exchange and our whole area was down. Amasing how our lives changed and that one feels totally useless if some modern technology - that we lived perfectly without a couple of years ago - decides to go on the blink!

Here's what Mommy and baby looks like. Baby is still a bit shy and is hiding at the back!
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Your Amoena is so nice Japie. Good to see you have a pup.
I hope I can get mine to go that red next summer.

Sander

Time for a new update.

The first day outdoors in early spring.
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This is today, the one in flower on the right is a new one I got this april. It came from a greenhouse so I guess it's clock is out of sync flowering in summer. Both have a pup now.
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So red amoena's do fine in cooler climates. The one on the left is not a show brom with all the damaged leafs, but after flowering and a few nights of unexpected mild frost I'm happy with it. I guess thats the normal 'after flowering ratty look', it is still growing though.
Not the vibrant red you guys have, I think that's a fert thing they have to grow out of.

Sander