Hello y'all, I've just gotten a bad case of brom fever and it can only be sated with, what else, broms. Can anyone recommend a few nuseries. I have ordered from Tropiflora, who is fantastic, but I'd like to see more please. Mercy buckets.
brom nurseries
Try Ebay, and contact sellers in your area.
Thanks weed_woman. Will do. Unfortunately, there are few vendors in the area that have broms. Petunias yes, but few things wild and colorful like broms.
Oh well, on to the monitor.
I like www.michaelsbromeliads.com He only has a few pictured online, but you can click on "Our Collection" and see a pdf file that lists everything he has.
Does anyone have a good book on raising broms to recommend?
Thanks mellielong. I checked out the site and my oh my, but don't they have some nice ones.
I've been to his place in Venice - he's got about ten greenhouses. It was overwhelming!
Sounds like a place where I could have a fit, break out in a rash of colors and sprout leaves from my head. Wish we had something like that here.
Big bubbles, there are 2 books out by Andrew Steens ( a new Zealander) but be warned! Once you read them, you will be bitten badly by the bromeliad bug!
Bromeliads for the contemporary garden ISBN 1-876314-19-2 (beautiful pictures and descriptions)
Bromeliads, The connoisseurs guide. ISBN 978-1-876314-23-1 (rarer types with magical pictures)
I hope you can find/borrow them from somewhere. Well worth a read!
Sue
Thanks, weed....was able to find the Contemp. Garden one on Amazon this morning! Appreciate the response.
hello plantgeek88
I believe that Tropiflora is the largest Brom nursery in the world......................Last time I was there they were packing up 2,500 to send to Thailand .The research and scouting they do is phenomenal. Something new all the time. You really should rent a u-haul and visit them............and while your here , Selby Botanical Gardens is not to be missed! I do believe you have the fever.........
Thanks queenemama. I love Tropiflora, have ordered from them a few times. And yes, if I went there I would have to rent a U-haul, sell a kidney, mortgage the house. I'll have to look up Selby Gardens. I bet it's the kind of place you never want to leave.
I do have the fever and it burns, burns, burns, the ring of fleur, the ring of fleur...
Sorry, could't resist.
I went to Selby Gardens last year during the Bromeliad club's show and sale. It was awesome! I need to go at Christmas - they make a Christmas "tree" entirely of bromeliads! Michael's Bromeliads is really close to Selby - I visited them on the same day. So it's definitely worth the trip!
Hey Mellielong, that tree sounds very cool. I'd like to see it. And all the other places mentioned. One day...
Weedwoman, I checked ebay and I now have a crypanthus black mystic sitting in the shade looking pretty. Thanks again.
Good on you plant geek! Its a good place to get the uncommon varieties. Just do your homework and do alot of watching to get a feel for prices. Write a list of your wants and what money they sell or, then you'll know what to expect to pay. Meanwhile when you're checking out your other vendors, you might spot the same thing at a better price. I watched a plant I bought for $40, go for $202 last week! It was a Vriesea platynema var. variegata, which is a beautiful plant, and I guess, not seen often on ebay, hence the price.
I'm glad I shopped around for mine. LOL
This is the pic of my $40 plant. Its quite big too!
Ooh, beautiful brom! I love the varigation and dashes of color on the tips.
I've done exactly as you suggested on other types of plants Weedwoman, and yes, it absolutely does pay off. Sometimes when things are too pricey, I just get seeds. But, I also get the experience of raising something and I really get to know the plant and fine tune to its needs in this part of the world. and then, ther is always that one plant that one cannot wait to sprout up and must be aquired immediately. lol So I get both plant and seeds.
Thank you all for the tips and chat. I'll no doubt be posting in this forum again now that broms are one of my favrorites. Whoohoo!
So, have you tried Brom seeds? I collected a couple of handfuls of seed from a Alcantarea glaziouana last week, and have plans to try and germinate them in a tray of damp, sterilized sphagnum moss, and place it under a sheet of glass in indirect light. I've never tried them from seed, but my neighbour has tried Vriesea seed and got a number to germinate, but said the losses are great and the tiny seedlings take forever to get to a managable size. I'm still gonna have a go though!
I'm trying very hard not to propagate anything, as I did a fair bit over the last 2 years, and have had a time of it, trying to find homes for it all, in mine and others gardens! I will, however, continue to pot up brom pups, because they are so versatile and I can use them in almost every spot in the garden.
Glad there is a bit of chat going on in Bromeliads. They're my passion, so I like to come here first if I can.
Sue
No, I haven't tried brom seeds yet, but I will. At some point I want to hybridize, so I better give seeds a shot before I do. Else my evil plan will fail. lol
Thanks for the germination tip. I've got just the spot to do that.
I know what you mean about finding homes for all the little seedlings. I have a boat load of fuschia because I did not expect the germination rate to be so high. Showed me.
There is something very fascinating about broms, something you can't quite articulate, but you don't have to. All you need do is hang out with them.
So, off now to track seeds. "To the batpoles!"