Well that's quite a story Kristan. Glad you are able to enjoy the plants still. Seems like everyone is drawn to different plants with different colors and patterns. And it sounds like yours is probably a unique one. I definitely first felt the tug with the propagation aspect. I had seen them in botanic gardens and the ones at the stores, but I figured they would be somewhat short-lived like a lot of tropical looking plants. When someone gave me one and I saw how easy they were to propagate I started to want to learn more. And as a geek, the more info I found and learned, the more I saw there was and the more I wanted to know...and yup, there was the internet and a local club...
-andy

That was supposed to say "passed", and not some other word. ;-)

My introduction to Broms was via Bill Morris ,we both grew orchids as well but for me ,if it was'nt a orchid ? well you did'nt grow it , but Bill asked me to built him a shade house for these weird plants ,and as i am good with my hands and tools ? i did . but as i worked around these ' Things' they did start to grow on me ,and Bill gave me a plant of Vriesea fosteriana ,a nice red coloured clone (still have it ) and that's how i was corrupted ,mind i am easely corrupted by plants ,you name it and i have had a go at growing and hybridizing it ,Zygocactus, Hippeastrums , Gloxinias , Caladiums, Anthuriums ,Orchids ,Alocasias ,am just compulsive ,therapy has'nt helped ,but years ago i settled on the royalty of all plants ,Bromeliads rule ,no doubt!
Jack

Im glad you get so much pleasure from broms Kristan, and that you have found this forum to help cultivate your addiction ;-) Once I had been bitten by the brom bug, it was these two photos that inspired me to start building a collection of plants, & to also grow many from seed.

The first is a photo of Leland MiyanoÂs garden in Hawaii. This photo was sourced from a local garden magazine article on Leland & his garden. The article is probably about 10 years old now, but when I first came across it the photos of this amazing tropical garden just blew me away, I had never seen bromeliads grown in such numbers before. The article commented on his collecting trips with Roberto Marx, how he used them as ground cover plants in his landscape design, & how he grew many broms from seed.

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The second photo is from the garden of Grace Goode. We were over in Australia for a family wedding, & managed to have a few days up in Maroochydore before the family gathering down in Brisbane. While in Maroochydore, I took the opportunity to visit Grace, and it was one of those unforgettable experiences. Grace gave me the full tour of her garden, & with a twinkle in her eye she explained her love of Bromeliads and of hybridisingÂI was hookedÂ

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Cheers, Andrew.

Good morning everyone.

Hi Tristan, that's a nice collection you have there and thanks for showing us around your garden.

My first contact with bromeliads or "bromel-aids" as they were referred to by the locals in those days, was about 1969. When we first moved to our present address I continued to grow orchids as I had for some years previously, and after a short time I was invited by one of the local chaps to visit and view his orchid collection. In his shade house as well as his orchids, he also had a few bromeliads and as I recall they were mostly aechema fasciata and aechmea Foster's Favcourite.

I was very impressed by how natural and attractive they looked, mounted on pieces of driftwood draped with "old man's whiskers" and hanging randomly throughout his collection. When he saw I was interested, he gave me a fasciata and a Foster's Favourite pup, and that was the start. As these grew and multiplied over the years, they were used together with ferns to compliment orchid displays at our annual orchid shows until some years later I gave up orchid growing for breeding birds.

Fast forward to 1998 when I gave up bird breeding due to shift work commitments, and decided to try my hand at growing ferns. I began to renovate the old shade house to make it look a bit more respectable and as I pulled down old benches and shade cloth, I spied some fasciata plants in full flower. These were from the original plants my friend (who has since died of cancer) had given me years before and they were growing in the corner having been neglected and forgotten for many years. It was at this point that I decided that if these plants could survive all this time without any attention, the direction my new hobby would take wasn't to be ferns, but bromeliads instead, and this has been my hobby ever since.

All the best, Nev.

Hi All and Kristen,

An interesting question; Why do we love Bromeliads?

I'm an avid plants collector since i was very young. I first collected plants when i was in high school. The first one who introduced me into world of plants is my father. He loved and grew a lot of orchids before I was born. I grew together with orchids. My father brought me to everywhere he enjoyed with orchids. I've absorbed his inspiration. Begined with caladium, a beautiful colourful aroid still popular in Thailand but difficult to keep. Then orchids, cacti&succulents , palms&cycads , anthuriums , others and the last bromeliads.

About bromeliads, I went to plant market many years ago and found a small red plant hanging from a basket. It was very nice. I asked the seller what it was. He said it was a bromeliad. I bought it and took it back. I didnt know much about this plant. I searched for the information and found and interesting source of these plants. After I joined BSI, my world of bromeliads is opened. There are a lot to learn. I found that bromeliads are plants that easy to care, less pests, less disease, need less attention and less fertilizer. In particular they are beautiful year round, has so many colors and forms. And also after joining this forum I found that there are so many lovely people around the world has the same thing and willing to share their knowledge. ;-)
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Thats why I love bromeliads

Cheers
Yong

cheers folks

Interesting that we can all come from different angles but bang - that bromeliad bug bites!!

I am drooling at some of the gardens you folks have visited - they would have been very inspiring I'm sure as would their owners/carers. Similarly "visiting" you're gardens via pics on here is equally inspiring and informative.

Yong - looks like you could get lost in that sea of bromeliads!

Lisa as for the cause - I'm not real good on all the technicalities - just the effects! Similar, I think, to MD in that the cells in middle of retina tear and heamorage (rather than a detached retina) but when mine goes its with a bang rather than slowly. Was born with cataracts, astigmatism etc and throw in some later glaucoma so generally weak eyes - plus the cataract operations and removal of lenses at a young age makes the super thin retinas a bit more succeptible than average - apparently heam retina's are common amongst weight lifters (build up of pressure) but if you saw me you'd know I was no weight lifter lol.

On the upside I now have a truckload of brom seeds planted and looking forward to watching them develop and take on their waiting forms (hopefully!)and some plants on the way so my addiction will be feed for a while!

all the best
Kristan

Kristan,

If you told me five years ago that I would enjoy growing broms from seeds, I would have said that you were nuts.

I've pondered why I like them so much, like Jack I also like Alocasias and Caladiums but I am not nearly as fanactical/obsessed about any of my other plants.

I like that you can talk about broms with a wide audience from mid twenties through to people in their eighties, apologies if I have left anyone out.

I like that they are fairly forgiving plants and will tolerate a bit of neglect and sometimes even reward you with a pup or two because you may have neglected them a little too much.

I don't like the fact that a few Tills have slipped into my possesion, I swore that wouldn't happen.

Rick
P.S, Andrew - the top photo that you posted looked to me like some of your garden photos, you must have studied that picture a few times.

when i was in hawaii i visited lisa's nursery looking for gingers. (i collect gingers too). i was looking around and was in awe at the variety of bromeliads lisa was growing. i remember thinking that i could do these. LOL well, 600 varieties later.....LOL

Heehee....... well, I guess my work here is done. How are your Hedychiums doing, Hayes?

Andrew, you probably know that Leland's garden doesn't look like that anymore. He's apparently gotten rid of some of the broms now and gone over to a more naturalistic style (see link). I haven't seen it recently (he rarely allows visitors), but I was fortunate to have been able to visit around the time that picture was taken, and it made quite an impression on me too. It's only an acre, but feels like at least five!

lisa

the hedychiums are doing great! lovem!

i have since enclosed my patio to house my bromeliad collection during the colder winter months. i just moved in the last few the past weekend due to the cold weather moving in. i cant wait til spring to spread them back out into the garden.

i have spread my bromeliad enthusiasm to some other local plant people. the circle continues. LOL

I really like tillandsia, I don't have any of the other broms, mostly due to not having the right conditions available to me, and being a bit intimidated, quite frankly.

I like tillies because of their uniqueness, their silvery sheen, and ease of care.

As a newbie, I love the fact you only have to buy the brom once and after it pups, you have another one. Tada!
Also, no matter where I am, box store, plant show, nursery, etc. I can always find something in my price range. Of course this is where the addiction kicks in.

I just got my first orchid for Christmas. I was out at a local produce shop today and saw a beautiful Bromeliad. I had to buy it. I remember one of my friends, who was very into orchids also really loved Bromeliads.
I just came across this site. I'm trying to find out how to care for them. Mine is a gorgeous deep red. I don't know the name of it.
I saw all of the pictures posted on here and can't believe how many different colors there are!!

Posting a photo of your plant will help when trying to get information on care or an ID of the plant. The FCBS site has many photo's that are very helpful also.