hey all y'all
i'm new to this forum, and bromeliads other than ball moss and spanish moss. other than these two, are there any bromeliads hardy to a mostly 9a (sometimes 8b) climate?
hardy bromeliads????
diehrd, I have had good luck with - Nidularium fulgens,Aechmea 'Covata',Aechmea gamosepala,Billbergia pyramidalis,Dyckia fosteriana,Neoregelia concentrica,Nidularium fulgens,Puya dyckioides,Tillandsia fasciculata,Vriesia carinata at my winter home in Biloxi , MS which is 8b away from the water.These have all taken temps in the low 20's with minimal damage in a protected area.Sometimes I throw a blanket over them if it gets real cold.
thanks. where might i find some of these?
Yucca Do Nursery,-(have a website),carries a good selection of hardy bromeliads, also Bird Rock Tropicals has many of them although the availability varies at any time. Just google both for their web sites.
thanks a lot
There's a fellow in the Washington, DC area who has been growing high-altitude Puyas outside for years. I can't recall his name right now but it's an interesting experiment. Some of these Andean Puyas grow at over 10,000 feet and can take a very hard freeze. I've been meaning to do more research myself so I'll take this as a "tickle" to follow up.
It's interesting how the Brazilian Vrieseas fare frost better than their higher-altitude Peruvian and Eucadorian counterparts. Someone else will have to explain that.
Dave.
diehard...I have some 'pups' I'll share with you. Yucca Do is a great nursery.....but not if you're on a budget, or just starting out. Love to go there...and next door to Peckerwood Garden. Beautiful grounds. All I ask is that you pay postage....and that you share your bromeliad pups later on. I'll d-mail you a pic of what I have and then we'll make arrangements to mail you which ones...or all you want...
thanks so much!
Thanks for starting this thread, diehrdsouthrnr. Been curious about growing bromeliads outdoors but have little experience with the plant. They're quite fascinating.
ilexopaca, do you think those same plants would survive a sheltered location in a zone 8a?
Its worth a try. My Aechmea 'covata' survived temp in the upper teens with only minor burn on it. I think the important thing is they rot easily in cold weather, so must have good drainage and air circulation to prevent root rot during periods of cold, damp weather. A location under an evergreen tree would be good for the added canopy to trap heat in cold weather.
oh wow, so some can be pretty tough...thank you for the helpful advice. ~plantmover
no problem, plantmover! do y'all have spanish moss up there? i know it grows in z. 8a. i started this thread cuz i figured that spanish and ball moss couldn't be the only bromeliads that can grow here, plus ardesia on saint helena island, not far from here grows several diff. kinds of bromeliads
I don't recall seeing it here on the peninsula; but it grows in Va Beach, in places. We've got plenty of mistletoe and lichen, not familiar with ball moss but that doesn't mean we don't have it! I need to go back to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg next summer; I'm sure they've created microclimates in all their elaborate landscaping.
We were recently 'upgraded' from a 7b to an 8a. Va Beach used to be an 8a (don't know if they bumped up or not), and it was the most northern point for southern plants and the most southern point for northern plants. Kinda makes it challenging to fudge the zones, because what might do great one year won't stand a chance the next. Too much fluctation in 'normal' weather patterns here.
I suppose gardening would be a lot easier if I'd stop trying to push the envelope, but what's the fun in that?! ;)
make that fluctuation--gosh, my spelling has gone to pot!
This message was edited Dec 3, 2007 6:01 PM
ball moss is tillandsia recuravata. you can look it up in the PlantFiles . it is basically just spanish moss in a ball with tiny purple flowers. i push our zones here all the time... that is what i love about plants... pushing them to their limits
So I checked it out in the plant files...hmm, I'm gonna be taking a closer look at some of the "mistletoe" I'm seeing.
So glad I'm not the only one pushing the zones--you're making me feel brave again! ;)
glad i could help encourage you!
=]
I'm in zone 8b in the sierra nevada foothills and have had good luck with Puya but they like it dry. Check out plant files for Puyas in Peru. carri