Selby Gardens is featured weekly on ABC7 News at Noon. Tune in Thursdays to see more informative segments like this one.
One of the most tropical of fruits is the delicious and beloved pineapple. Did you know that members of the pineapple family are also some of our favorite landscape plants? Tropical, colorful, and easy to grow, members of this plant family are native to tropical America, where they can be found growing everywhere from rainforests and deserts. Known as bromeliads, many of these plants grow as epiphytes in nature, living on tree branches high in the canopy. Today I’ll introduce you to some common bromeliads that will add a tropical touch to your garden.
Most bromeliads have an easily recognizable shape, a vase-shaped cone of overlapping leaves called a rosette. This shape allows them to collect and hold water and plant debris, creating their own garden in the sky. The largest genera – or group – of bromeliads is also one of the easiest to grow, Aechmea. They also grow well in our sandy Florida soils, forming large colonies over time. Some species are quite large, and can be dramatic in the landscape. But wear long sleeves when working with Aechmea, because their spiny leaves can scratch!
Another popular genus of bromeliads is colorful Neoregelia. More compact and low growing, these plants have tiny flowers that peek out from their leaf cups. In order to attract pollinators, their leaves color up, effectively turning the whole plants into a vivid “flower”. It’s this feature that makes them such popular garden plants, and gardeners have provided us with an endless variety of showy leaf colors and patterns to choose from. Neoregelia are also very versatile, and can be grown successfully in the ground, in a container, or in your trees.
You’ve probably seen some of our native bromeliads, such as Spanish moss and ball moss. From the genus Tillandsia, these bromeliads are even smaller still, and are sometimes referred to as “air plants”. They don’t hold water in their cups, but instead are covered with tiny scales called trichomes, which gives them an attractive silvery appearance. With a surprising diversity of forms, Tillandsia grow best mounted to wood or free-hanging from a hook.
Growing bromeliads in your garden is easy. Because most are epiphytic, they can’t handle wet feet, so if you’re growing them in pots, make sure they have a well-drained medium like an orchid mix. Keep their cups filled with water, and occasionally wash them down with a hose. Most bromeliads prefer bright dappled sunlight, they’ll be more compact and colorful in brighter light. Give bromeliads a try, and you’ll see how easy and satisfying they are to grow.