Here are a few more plants shots from other plants nearby that either are, or aren't labeled, but the foliage matches

Here is some Puya beteroana flowers... these bloom about 1.5 months earlier than most of these other Puyas, and plants are huge (foliage quite different from Puya alpestris and super nasty)

Puya chilensis is a similar sized and shaped plant to P berteroana (these two species are the tallest plants, and flower panicles in the gardens), but blooms are brilliant yellow/chartreuse and flowering time about about 2 weeks ago.

here is a smaller species (only about 2' tall at the tallest) called Puya assurgens. Very different flowers

Here is a plant identified as Puya coerulea var. violacea... this plant I have seen in multiple gardens and it is always the same, so I have a pretty good feeling this plant is correctly identified at least

Another low-growing species, Puya butcheriana looks a lot like Puya assurgens, only with dark purple flowers rather than green ones. Plant itself is nasty and spiny, too, while assurgens tends to be much more 'user friendly'.

Puya dyckioides sadly flowers at a completely different time of year, and can't seem to get it in active flower. Oh well

Though flower spikes of Puya ferruginea are tall with lots of nice fuzzy pink on them, the flowers themselves are somewhat small, nearly black, and a bit hard to photograph.

wow amazing and thank you for sharing! will put this on my list to visit next year.

Puya floccosa is a pretty nice plant with at least fairly nice flowers and is a somewhat more manageable size for a PUya.

Puya mirabilis here is growing at the Los Angeles arboretum, some 10 miles maybe from the Huntington. Small, user friendly species that blooms in the fall

PUya spathacea has bright red, showy flower panicles with purple-blue or green-turquoise flowers.

Puya ultima is a weird plant... soft, smooth, bright green wide leaves and weeping flower stalks.

PUya venusta looks like a dwarf form of PUya coerulea, though flowers are at least a bit more consistent. I suspect that some of the Puya coerulea plant is actually a Puya venusta plant growing into it... but no idea for sure. This is the only 'spectacular species in which I don't have to use zoom to take close ups of the flowers.

Puya wrightii is a bit less than spectacular, and is the first of the Puyas to bloom each year (late January to February).

Thank you for taking the time to post pictures palmbob.

So these are considered bromeliads, right? Not cacti or succulents? Are bromeliads considered cacti/succulents? Please excuse my ignorance. Maybe understanding this will help me in my searches.

Thamks, Tyler

This last Puya is not identified, but is unique and probably should not be that hard to figure out... flower stalks are very tall, slender with long, twisted, drooping flowers that are a variety of subtle colors... every thing coated in a thick fuzzy coppery velvet.

The first time I saw Puya alpestris I was blown away. A wicked plant with such beautiful flowers. As you say, not a user friendly plant. In another life with acres to landscape I would plant these everywhere.

Well, this is tears-inducing. It's irritating enough that agaves will not tolerate Zone 7 winters. Now I'm adding puya to that list too. Hmp.

Pagan, several of the small ones do well in pots (mirabilis, alpestris). If you have a greenhouse or well protected area for the winter you could enjoy some of the blooms.

So beautiful! I just bought my first Puya. It's a Puya chilensis. Thanks for the pics of the Puya chilensis, makes me love my plant even more. Looking at all your pics makes me want a ton more Puyas. I have a least a decade before mine blooms, but I don't mind makes it more exciting when they do. They're so unique, but still so lovely. I bet hummers go crazy for the flowers:).

Wow and wow and wow. I definitely don't want to move, but these at least made me think of it for one little moment ;-).