Update on flower spike - not a lot of change in one month:

I was able to find photos on this site, and so I have determined that it is definitely 'Mint Julep' and not hieroglyphica, and the flowers are quite different. I can now see that I should be getting some yellow blossoms at some time in the near future, and I think those will be very nice. However, it is very slow to develop the flowers, but they will probably be around for a long time as well.

Definitely not Vr. hieroglyphica, see attached picture.

All the best, Nev.

At first I had a hard time telling the difference between hieroglyphica and mint julep, but now I can discern a different pattern in the leaves. I see more of a stripe pattern in the hieroglyphica, and the mint julep is more mottled. Sometimes the stripes in the hieroglyphica are difficult to see. Here's one that is crossed with fosteriana, and that is what got me confused. It's from a Florida show.

I think now that the mint julep resembles the fosteriana more than it does the hieroglyphica, and especially with the flowers.

Hi evereyone.

Lars - That hieroglyphica x fosteriana is a nice plant and the pattern certainly has that fosteriana look about it, the only difference being the base colour of the foliage.

All the best, Nev.

Here's an update on the flower - it still has not opened, but it seems to be getting close

I'm documenting this to show how slow it really is.

I think little yellow flowers are going to come out, and I think it will look like this one that I've had for three years, but it has not rebloomed yet:

Flower finally opened May 31 or June 1, when I was in San Diego, but here are photos of subsequent flowers:

I love that plant! I've long admired the leaves of the green vreiseas... the green mottled or striped leaves. I bought a 2017_0409 Vriesea gigantea 'Nova' last year to get my feet wet with vrieseas... sadly, it is the only brom I lost in winter of 2018. We hit a low of 23.5 and were below freezing for 12+ hours. My neos did much better - at least they lived. Some of them were pretty raggedy, but they survived. The vriesea did not. Here she is (was), before winter 2018:

If I ever get more, I will have to have a better winter plan. :)

Congratulations on your beautiful bloom.

Nev, as always thanks for the great photos! (I love to see your pictures!)

Carol in Jacksonville, Florida

Thanks, Carol! Sorry to hear about your Vriesea and the severe cold weather you had. Do you have the same problem with Aechmea? In a normal winter, our temperatures do not go below 45°, and it's extremely rare (once in 10 or 12 years) to get below 40°. Therefore I do not worry about any of my bromeliads, but I do bring certain orchids (cattelaya) inside for the winter months, but they mostly stay outside. The epidendrums and cymbidiums do quite well here staying outdoors all winter. I have a few other cold hardy orchids, but I don't know their names.

I think I like Vriesea bromeliads the best, followed by Aechmea, but I do like the large Neoregelia, and those were the most expensive at the sale in San Diego, it seemed.

Yes, Lars, freezing is a big problem. I live almost exactly five miles from the Atlantic Ocean and this is Zone 9A. We usually have two to three hard freezes every year. However. Winters of 2016 and 2017 we had no hard freeze! First time in the 15+ years I had lived in my house that I did not start spring with my yard looking like cooked spinach! Both springs were great and I had plants with growth - not just coming back from the roots as is the norm with tropicals here. I had blooms on plants that require prior year growth to bloom - shell ginger, for example. Never usually see it blooming in Jax except right at Jax Beach (where it doesn't get as cold). In those two years, my number of brom plants has exploded and so when the freeze came 'round, I was shoving plants onto the porch, into the garage, under blankets, under towels, under hedges, under big shrubs, you name it! I lost the vriesea above, as well as an Aechmea 'Black Chantinii'. Both completely gone. No hope of even a pup. They were TOAST. I can tell when you might get a pup - and I know to leave well enough alone - but there was NO hope. I had two Aechmea 'Malva' that barely squeaked by. [Both look horrible[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/fireball-vs-super-fireball-vs-superball-vs-sunball-dsvw-vd~5335316?n=7), but one is offering me a pup and the other is alive and will eventually pup, too (I hope). I love neos most, as well I should, because they are the easiest in my zone... although the others types do slip in.

Carol