Friday, July 18, 2008

Random plant event: Aechmea fasciata flowering

There were a few Aechmea fasciatas around when I started this job almost a year ago. I don't know when they'd been brought in; some of them may have been as recent as spring 2007. At least one had dying flowers still on it last August, so it would have been a semi-recent bloom; the others might have been from any time at all, I suppose.

The flower on 6 July 2008.

But anyway. They produced offsets, as A. fasciatas will do, and at some point WCW removed the offsets and planted them up separately in their own pots and that was that. I didn't really think about it much after that; I'd always thought that if you don't force them to bloom (as growers often do), it's always at least a two-year wait for offsets to bloom, and more often three.

But a couple of the offsets are blooming now. And I'm realizing, from looking at them, that I've probably never seen Aechmea flowers this early in development before. As they get older, the color gets sort of flatter-looking, somehow, which is maybe why I was never that interested in them. But these -- these are kind of awesome. The individual bracts shade from pink at the base up to a lighter pink or maybe even white at the tip, there's a whole yellowy thing going on in the center of the bloom, it all just kind of rocks.

A close-up of the flower, also 6 July 2008.

I like Aechmea fasciata anyway, of course (though possibly not as much as some people). It's been relatively easy to grow, and it's got an interesting look, and perhaps more to the point it's awakened a latent appreciation for bromeliads that I hadn't been aware of, to the point where now I have seventeen of them (four Aechmea fasciata, one Vriesea imperialis, two types of Cryptanthus, six Guzmanias, one Neoregelia 'Fireball' and a Neoregelia 'Gazpacho,' a Tillandsia cyanea, and a Vriesea splendens. All of which will someday be the subject of plant profiles.).

The same flower, but a week later, on 14 July 2008.

But these emerging flowers are something else.

If things go the way they usually go, they'll sell before the blooms progress much further, and that will be that. But it's been very exciting, actually. I never cared whether my blooming plants were actually going to bloom for me or not, and I still don't, insofar as all my plants made it in the apartment on the merits of their foliage, and nobody's going to get kicked out for failing to flower, but it would be awfully sweet to have an Aechmea flower of my own to watch, where it can't get sold out from under me. 'Cause I am getting kind of interested in the end of this story.

Same flower, 16 July.


4 comments:

Plowing Through Life (Martha) said...

Yup, I have gold card membership to the Aechmea fasciata fan club. I love this plant; I think it's so damn cool. And it is the one that got me hooked on Bromeliads, which I have a few of (and wish I had more).

I've never had the good fortune of witnessing the beginning flowering stages of this Aechmea, which is really awesome, so I'm really envious (but grateful for the photos; better than nothing!). But I do have two 'pups' growing next to the mother plant that are almost ready to be on their own, so maybe down the line (2 - 3 years??), I'll get a chance.

17 bromeliads, huh? Looks like you may be catching the bromeliad fever yourself... Careful, these plants are highly addictive.

Thanks for sharing these pics! Keep ‘em coming…

Unknown said...

WOW! Those are just gorgeous! I recently tried to purchase some from a seller on eBay and got stiffed. (No plants after two months, so paypal refunded me.) But I'm still dying to have some of this plant, and can't seem to find it anywhere! Any tips, or do you have offsets available for sale?

mr_subjunctive said...

I have a couple at home that may or may not be rooted that I could send in exchange for postage, though I think this might be a bad time of year to try mailing houseplants anywhere. You can e-mail me if you want to talk about it further:

mrsuREMOVETHISPARTbjunctive@aoTHISPARTTOOl.com

Unknown said...

Aechmea fasciate is easy to grow and very forgiving ! I love the colors , the plant looks great with out a bloom . After it blooms don't rush too seperate the pups , let the old one die .I like to keep all the pups together , a big multi vase plant is impressive ! Because the plant is happy with imperfect care it can take longer before it blooms again for me . That's OK it looks great and I don't need to sweat it
Keep water in the vases but the "soil" on the dry side . The "soil" must be something light that drys out fast ( like tree fern chucks ) If you can't find that add a lot of horticultural charcoal to your mix .george plant queen from MA