This bromeliad looks particularly festive at the moment...
These two things just said "Holiday" to me today...
As does this Aechmea weilbachii f. pendula...looks like holiday ornaments hanging down!
and the sun shining through this window almost makes these begonia leaves look like stained glass (sorry, that's three, not 2!)
I lovethat Aechmea weilbachii f. pendula - I have never seen a bromeliad with pendulous blooms; very unusual, and I agree, all very festive looking.
I need something to put in the top of a large urn and am thinking of a type of bromeliad or maybe a succulent; that pendulous brom would be perfect.
There are lots of pendulous broms! Most are Aechmeas and a lot of them are generational descendants of Foster's Favorite, LOL. But this one is a species plant. Let me see if I have any other photos in my archive of pendulous broms to give you ideas
Unfortunately most of the photos I have of really nice broms are on a set of CD's that I have misplaced (my hard drive crashed, but they were able to extract my photographs for me) but here are a few...
This is Aechmea Foster's Favorite Red Ribbon, a variegated form of Foster's Favorite that is quite nice. The bloom is very red with small berries
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v466/Bihai/FostersFavRR.jpg
This is regular Foster's Favorite, it is a green brom that gets the red flush if grown in high light...this plant will take full sun for a large portion of the day even here in FL
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v466/Bihai/FostersFav.jpg
Even something like Billbergia sanderiana (and many other Bils) will look pendant if grown in a hanging basket
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v466/Bihai/Billsanderiana.jpg
A few Aechmeas that are very noteworthy for their color that have pendant blooms identical to Foster's Favorite are Puerto Rico Black, Black on Black, Perez and Prieto. They all have very dark leaves that are striking
These are terrible photos, but it gives you an idea.
This first one of Aechmea Black on Black. As you can see, the leaves really ARE almost black! Its pretty cool. Has the same little red pendant bloom as Foster's Favorite.
And there are some lovely pendant Vreiseas as well. This one is well past the bloom, I need to cut this bloom off as the plant is forming new pups, but this is a pendant Vr. called 'retroflexa variegata'.
I have 2 other pendant Vreiseas (not in bloom right now), Purple Pendant and scalaris. You can Google those to see what they look like, they are all small plants (Think a little bigger than Neoregelia "Fireball" but not by much) easy to grow in slat baskets and hang
Dennis Cassidy who own Tropiflora in Sarasota has some amazing bromeliads. There are but a few on his unusual, to say the least, webpages. If you can get to see him in person at the nursery or at shows where he is displaying his plants you would be amazed at the selection.
http://www.tropiflora.com/creport/cr18-1/p3.html
Goth, I have something that looks a lot like billbergia sanderiana growing in a basket. I'm looking at your hanging basket and wondering what kind it is. Is this something used to grow orchids?
The aech. black on black is absolutely awesome.
Hi Ardesia,
we go to Tropiflora pretty often. Its only a couple hours from here. And his name is Dennis CATHCART. He's pretty famous worldwide.
If you mean the slat basket that has the variegated Vreisea in it, yes its a wood slat orchid basket. That particular one has seen better days, its bottom is rotting out I just noted in that photo, will have to take that plant out and groom it and get a new basket for it, LOL. I can;t keep up with stuff sometimes.
The Billbergia is in a galvanized wire frame basket with a coir liner. I don't actually do this anymore, because the coir rots out when it gets wet.
OMG, you are correct of course about the name being Cathcart. What was I thinking?
Just too many holiday chores on my mind I guess. LOL
goth, for the sake of clarity, this is the one I was talking about. I think I have that plant and wondering about this basket.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v466/Bihai/FostersFav.jpg
I also don't buy coir liners any more because they rot at the bottom. In a minute I will post what I use for my baskets. It is great.
Vossner,
that one is Foster's Favorite. Its a great plant.
Larry, It will be great when they finally do that. They have been working on it for a few years now. I think the 'Cargo Report" system finally failed them in this age of online shopping.
oops. I had forgotten all about posting what I used to line my hanging baskets. They last way longer than coco fiber mats. Maybe they've been around a while but I just discovered this material last spring.
http://www.supamoss.com/
Well, that looks interesting. I'd like to try some of that Supamoss next spring. If it can handle Houston humidity is should be able to handle ours.
Oh Nery, looks like a great product. I use the moss that comes in bales and then piece it together. Can be a mess. I am going to order some right now!
HI ARDESIA! I haven't seen you in ages and ages. I hope you are GREAT! I am going to check out your bromeliad website.
Gothqueen, your bromeliads look just great. I have quite a few but brought none in this winter. I hope the ones out in the yard are OK after our frost last week.
Hi Kell, Merry Christmas!
Tropiflora's website is a bit obtuse but as indicated above, it will be improved. I usually meet up with Dennis and his wife at garden shows and they bring the most extraordinary plants. They have a whole list of cold hardy broms too.
I will go out and post of pic of my baskets. But right now I'm so excited that my stepson is visiting. He's a sweet, young man. Who knew the teenager from Hexx was going to be such an adorable adult.
here you go. BTW, I give lots of thought to color combination. But the day I put this hanging basket together, I used what I had left, just a mish-mash. I think it is as beautiful as if color echoes queen Pamela Harper had planned it.
closeup of the supamoss. I don't even trim the material, just turn it inside the basket and let the soil hold it in place.
Children have a way of doing that, LOL. We have a nephew who was pretty sinister slacker as a teen, now he's got a highly paying job in CA designing...video games. Who woulda thunk it?
Goth...I love your brommies. You have inspired me to go out and take photos...perhaps you can ID some for me....
Carol
Nery, hope you had a great holiday with him! I can't wait to try your basket liners. Thanks
Thanks Kell, we had a wonderful time, he's gone back to Ft Polk. I hope you like the liners, I really like them.
thanks for the link to the liners, nery. i'll be getting some also!
hope everyone had a very merry christmas. debi