Hi everyone.

Carol - I have plants from one I originally bought as a pup of Neoreglia 'King's Ransom' and have grown it for several years and during that time I can honestly say I've never looked to see if it flowers. Because the Neoregelia flowers are insignificant in size and are often under water, the only time I especially look for them is if I'm intending to use them for hybridising purposes which isn't the case with this plant.

As for size; after reading the description on the B.C.R. which says "......this "large" heavy many leafed rosette in deep green which does not bloom
.....", I tend to now think my plant (which is just one of many growing under that name in our area) is wrongly named.

The reason I say this is because, our plants are only what I would call small/medium in size (8" - 10" diameter) and the central rosette isn't raised as shown in the BCR and various other pictures I have now Googled.

It now seems I may have bought a plant with questionable identity and one I never bothered to check, because many of my fellow growers have the same plant with that name as well. This seems to bear out my initial thoughts that it looked surprisingly like Neoregelia 'Honour Bright' which I now think maybe its correct name.

This plant was originally purchased as Neoregelia 'King's Ransom' but now suspected as being Neoregelia 'Honour Bright'. As I now look at the picture it's obvious it does flower.

As for other plants that supposedly don't flower, I have also been told by many other growers that Neoregelia 'Burnsie's Spiral' doesn't flower either. The info on the BCR also tells us, "A
perpetually growing 8" across stacked symmetrical variegated plant which
rarely produces offsets and flowering at 50 cm high - may be a xNiduregelia?"

Neoregelia 'Burnsie's Spiral'

As for flowering, I have never looked, as I have my plant at the back of a bench because of its height, which is now about 30", and although the info on the BCR says it rarely produces offsets. I have found the opposite with my plant.

It produces abundant pups from the base as well from various points up the main stem of the plant which as it grows in height becomes devoid of foliage. I have taken several pups off my plant pictured below and the three pups I have left are there to just hide the now bare stem of the original Mother plant at the rear. So once again we see an "exception to the rule".

My plant of Neoregelia 'Burnsie's Spiral'

What's generally accepted as normal plant behaviour by one grower, may be completely different
when grown by another grower under different conditions.

It just goes to show that no matter how long we have been growing our broms, or how large our collection, discussion on these forums can often teach us all something we didn't previously know. At the very least, it teaches us not to blindly accept everything that's written; always check further.

All the best, Nev.