Re: 20-year Bromeliad

Yep, this one's like that--except when a pineapple flowers/fruits the plant grows offsets at the same time and the mother plant deteriorates rather quickly once the fruit is ripe. With this plant, the mother plant hangs around for a couple of years before it really declines. We have another bromeliad--don't know the botanical, but it has the same general structure as A. fasciata--that the mother plants last a very long time, 5-6 years, after blooming. 

On Jun 24, 2007, at 6:36 PM, Kitty wrote:
Very, very nice! I was under the impression that Bromeliads only bloomed once and then died, but not before producing daughters that carried on the tradition. Care to enlighten me? 

Kitty
neIN, Zone 5
----- Original Message ----- From: "james singer" <islandjim1@verizon.net> 
To: "Garden Chat" <gardenchat@hort.net>
Sent: Sunday, June 24, 2007 11:20 AM
Subject: [CHAT] 20-year Bromeliad
I have an Aechmea fasciata bromeliad that I rescued from St. Anthony Publishing when I pretended to work there. That was 20 years ago. Since that time, the plant has been a summer-only balcony dweller in WDC and Bethesda, MD, and a patio dweller at a garden apartment in Sarasota and, finally, here at Jim's Jungle. And every year it's bloomed, so apparently it feels no ill-will toward the lackadaisical care it's received in all these years. Here's a link to a picture of this year's bloom. If the leaves do not look as gray as they should, it's likely because it now lives in the dense shade of the avocado tree--and was pretty much buried in avocado leaves until Ms. Fatma noticed the bloom poking through the litter earlier today and uncovered it.. 

http://snipr.com/1ni37

Island Jim
Southwest Florida
27.1 N, 82.4 W
Hardiness Zone 10
Heat Zone 10
Sunset Zone 25
Minimum 30 F [-1 C]
Maximum 100 F [38 C]

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Island Jim
Southwest Florida
27.1 N, 82.4 W
Hardiness Zone 10
Heat Zone 10
Sunset Zone 25
Minimum 30 F [-1 C]
Maximum 100 F [38 C]

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