xAnamea Raspberry Ice

This is a pretty cool bromeliad if you have the space for it (it gets over 5 ft tall and has a spread of about 5-6 feet). Its a bigeneric cross between a pineapple (Ananas) and an Aechmea.

I bought this as an offset from Tropiflora a few years ago, and it was an innocuous plant about 15-18 inches tall. I kept it potted for a while, then it started to color up on the spines with a nice pink ribbon so I thought it would partner nicely with my variegated banana in the greenhouse. It grew to such gigantic proportions that I kept backing into it every time I was working in that aisle and it was poking me in the butt, so I made the decision to relocate it out in the yard.

Soon after I moved it out, it bloomed. Not its winter and ti has proven to be very hardy so I am leaving it out. The bloom is gone, but it has a pup growing out of the base and now there are two! This is a HUGE plant. If you have seen it and are considering buying one, think twice.

This was when it first bloomed

The bloom started out about the size of a baseball, then got bigger and bigger til it was about the size of a cantaloupe.

Wow, that is one massive Brom! It reminds me of an Agave americana! I wonder what parent gave it its size? How big is your greenhouse? FL is for florida? You would get mild winters there, yes?

The greenhouse is pretty large for a "personal home" model, its over 1700 sq ft.. My first mistake was not researching how large this plant actually gets. I am only 5'3 and its taller than I am. My second mistake was planting it too close to the walking path...everytime I was working in that area, I backed into a spine! (And they are sharp)

So I had to move it outside. Winters in FL are pretty mild, but I am not in the Miami area so we do get some frose and a few freezes. So far this plant has seen 27F for just a few hours without any damage