I just got some large bromeliads from someone, will they grow OK in my zone 8B garden or are they too tender for it? Should they be strictly indoor plants????? Light requirements??????????? Water requirements?????????
I'm totally new to broms. Any tips will be appreciated.
Bromeliads in garden in zone 8B???????????
I sure wish they would grow in the garden. I love them! I am in zone 8b too.
Florist at grocery store told me today to plant it in a pot, and protect by putting in my breezeway in winter because they're tropical and thus not that hardy. She said also, don't give them full sun, tropicals want filtered. That works out well, I can put them in a pot behind some taller plants for shading and move in winter.
Also said when watering to put the water IN the leaves, letting it sit there. They like that.
Only thing I KNOW for sure is NOT to leave them in full sun. The leaves burn!
They burn easily in full sun. Don't leave them out in freezing weather. I accidentally left mine out one year and when they got frost damage, I didn't notice at first. I kept smelling something awful near the entry and thought something had died. It was the bromeliads with freeze damage. They truly smell horrible after freeze damage. As long as they are protected from freeze and sun, they do great for me here.
If you post on the tropicals forum you might get even more responses.
I live on Lake Conroe in Willis..not to far from you and Have Bromeliads in pots...sitting outside..and on my Screened in porch....I leave them there all winter...mine have never died...Jeanne
I've got a huge one in the backyard. It's blooming in the shade. Stays outside year round, too. Soon as I can, I'll post a pic for you. Actually, I have two..
Like JeanneTX,...I've left my bromeliads outside year round (shaded from direct sun)...with no precautions against the cold in winter....and have lost only a couple one year when there was a night in the 20's and a strong North wind blowin'....but that's one year in eight that they suffered from the cold. Best to bring them inside if you don't want to chance it!
I've slowly eliminated the majority of plants needing to be "brought in" for the winter....just a few to manage...is best for me.....good luck with yours!
Thanks for all your messages! I placed them in the only shady spot I have near the house, which is on the SE side of some trees and undergrowth, which protects it from the afternoon sun, and I am hoping I can leave them there all winter too. I am guessing those that were successful with Bromeliads left outside all winter in my area, must have done so because the Broms had the frost protection from the limbs in the trees and shrubs above it.
I am guessing that you are referring to epiphytic bromeliads but there are terrestrial broms out there that can go in the garden in 8b. There are some wonderful plants out there. I do not have a camera to show mine, but I will post links.
Native to TX:
http://www.csdl.tamu.edu/FLORA/cgi/gallery_query?q=Hechtia
Where to buy some (there are a few succulents on this page- they must have snuck in there):
http://www.yuccado.com/displayengine//where%20ygroup=%27Bromeliads%27////Bromeliads
The two that I have (mine are not near flowering size):
Puya berteroniana
www.strangewonderfulthings.com/101.htm
Puya alpestris
www.tradewindsfruit.com/sapphire_tower.htm
For your amazement:
www.fcbs.org/butcher/Puya_raimondii.htm
(I do not have this one.)
They are not the friendliest plants, but they are beautiful.
David
Definitely no direct light. Indirect light and light watering. contain the roots not to much Don't let the roots sprawl.
calvin
nivlac,
What do you mean by "sprawl?"
sprawl: Go everywhere, where ever they want.
I have experienced, course I could be the only one who has had this happen to them, that when I let them "sprawl" the root system was to spread out and they died, but the ones Icontroled how much space their roots took up they lived and thrived until I had to get rid of them. An example: Butter spread over to much bread has little taste, but butter spread over a little bit of bread has great taste.
Roots to confined kill a plant, roots to sread out weeken a plant, roots controlled not only strengthen to soil, but they strengthen the plant.
Just my experience
calvin
Thanks Calvin!
In Austin I have bromiliads planted under live oaks -- Aechmeas and Bilbergia nutans. They put on a beautiful show when they bloom and they're wonderful textural plants when not in bloom -- VERY low maintenanace. I also have a huge Puya dyckioides in our rock garden that is not sheltered by trees. It's in full bloom and just magnificent! Not all bromaliads, especially the bonified tropical varieties, will thrive in the ground. There are many, many varieties that will live happily in pots outside (during the warm months) as long as they don't get too much sun. Incidentally our hardy bromiliads all come from Yucca Do http://www.yuccado.com
i am in shade in my front yard and have a bromeliad where it is doing well...i will bring it in in the winter
thanks for all those wonderful sites, davidMK