Re: bromeliads

I certainly defer to David - a local bromeliad officianado who knows this
stuff far better than I.

BTW - the link he provided was mis-typed (should have been
www.sfbromeliad.org), and the power point slide show he mentioned can be found
at:
http://www.sfbromeliad.org/slideshow/calHortShow.ppt.htm

I've long admired David's use of bromeliads in our local San Francisco Bay
Area climate, where they can do very well.  I grew many plants in a former
garden (some provided o me by David) that I was very happy with, most
receiving only occasional overhead watering and growing well despite of this. 
The area of expertise seems to be well stocked with collectors who are more
interesting in expanding their collection than trialling these plants in the
garden.  I am happy that David continues to promote the garden use of these
interesting plants.

Seán A. O'Hara
sean(at)gimcw.org
www.hortulusaptus.com
(ask about mediterranean climate gardening forum)

> Hello Alexandre,
>
> Definitely it is a Tillandsia species, and it might be
> either T. bergeri or T. stricta, which are two of the
> most commonly available and hardiest gray leafed small
> clumping Tillandsias.  I don't think that
> mediterranean climate humidity has anything to do with
> lack of blooming, as for this plant to even survive
> for 20 years, your friend has obviously had to water
> it in summer to keep it alive.  This can be achieved
> in place by simply spraying the plant with a hose for
> a few seconds every few days during hot weather, or
> dunking the plant in a bucket of water as Sean
> suggests.  I grow several dozen species of hardy
> Tillandsia species mounted to tree branches in my own
> garden, and they are easily grown with just 30 seconds
> of mist irrigation every few days in summer, and no
> care at all in winter.  I have mine mounted in a
> deciduous Japanese plum tree, which gives them plenty
> of light in winter, which helps ensure that they will
> bloom come spring.  The more tender varieties of
> Tillandsia are probably best grown in evergreen trees,
> which will provide a bit of frost protection.  It is
> still important to locate them where they will get
> good amount of sun in winter, as none of them are good
> shade plants unless they are amongst the softer leaved
> green Tillandsias, which often look more like Vriesea
> species.
>
> A key factore in getting the hardier spring blooming
> Tillandsia species to bloom is ensuring that they get
> enough winter sun.  They will tend not to bloom if too
> shaded in winter.  Being that the Olive tree is
> evergreen, it may be too shaded at this key season to
> receive the winter sun it needs to trigger bloom.
> Both T. bergeri and T. stricta are hardy to -2/-3C at
> least, and moving parts of the clump into positions
> that receive at least 5 to 6 hours of winter sun
> should get this to bloom for your friend.  Also it may
> help to give this clump some dilute liquid fertilizer
> at half strength two or three times in the warmer
> months to encourage blooming.
>
> For those who might also be interested in seeing more
> about outdoor hardy bromeliads in a mediterranean
> climate, I can refer you to a power point presentation
> that I recently gave along with the SF Bromeliad
> Society's Dan Arcos to the California Horticultural
> Society a few weeks ago for their October 2007
> meeting.  It is online and available for viewing at
> www.sfbromeliads society.org, and covers the broad
> range of bromeliads that are adaptable to outdoor
> growing in our local climate, as well as showing how
> they are used in landscapes in local SF Bay Area
> gardens.
>
> I also pursued this topic for a recent seminar this
> October in conjunction with the Ruth Bancroft Garden,
> on the topic of The Influence of South America on
> California Gardens.  Several speakers and I addressed
> the influence of South American design and plants on
> our gardens, and toured local gardens the following
> day.  The four gardens I had on the tour all featured
> bromeliads heavily, as well as a broad mix of South
> American subtropicals and mediterranean climate plants
> in garden settings.  The seminar and tour was very
> enjoyable,(about 50 people attended) and it was nice
> to get 2 presentations on Lotus Land in Santa Barbara
> as well as Los Posas in Mexico, and an overview on
> Roberto Burle Marx and other Brazilian and Chilean
> landscape architects.  I covered my take on Brazilian
> influence on California gardens, as I lived in Bahia,
> Brazil for a couple of years.  I showed both Brazilian
> plants in habitat, and how I tend to use them in
> gardens I design here.
>
> People seemed intrigued by the possibilities of using
> bromeliads in gardens, much in the way succulents are
> so popular, and other star South American plants that
> got alot of attention were those in bloom at the
> moment, such as; Tibouchina organensis, Brugmansia
> Charles Grimaldi, Delastoma roseum, Dalechampia
> dioscoreifolia, Ruellia macrantha, Dahlia imperialis,
> Tabebuia chrysotricha, Aechmea 'Burgundy' and Aechmea
> recurvata, Justicia brandegeana, Calandrinia
> grandiflora, Passiflora membranacea, Heliconia
> scheideana, and Erythrina x bidwillii.  Fall is one of
> my favorite seasons to have a garden tour, and can
> quickly show that fall can be just as colorful in
> bloom as the spring garden with the right choice of
> plants.
>
>
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