The good bit is that after a 5 year wait, a clump of Puya alpestris in
my garden has just burst into flower. For those who don't know it,
this is a bromeliad somewhat tenuously related to the pineapple, which
produces rather attractive 3ft wide rosettes of silvery, but lethally
thorny arching leaves. Unlike many bromeliads, it is terrestrial,
native to the Andean slopes in Chile where it survives on very poor,
thin soils and is thought to derive at least some of its nourishment
from small animals that die after being trapped by its backward
pointing spines.

After several years, the rosette produces a 5 foot tall., stout flower
spike terminating in branches held out almost at perfect right angles
creating the ultimate architectural outline. At the base of each
branch lie clusters of 3" long, very heavily textured flowers in the
most incredible dark turquoise blue each with vivid yellow,
contrasting stamens. As with almost all bromeliads, the flowers have
just 3 petals, but their size and colour make this one of the most
spectacular of them all.

These flowers are pollinated by birds that come to sip the large
quantities of nectar that are produced at the petal bases. Showing
the ultimate in adaptation. the branch tips are bare, providing 6"
long perches for the birds' convenience. It is a stunning sight, even
though only a couple of flowers are open at the moment. There are
hundreds of buds promising several weeks of colour. I'll take a pic
of the spike when it is in full bloom.

Oh erm - and the bad bit? Another wasps nest!!! This time barely 3
yards from the back door. I've left the other for the time being, but
this one has to go.

Dave Poole
Torquay, Coastal South Devon UK
Winter min -2°C. Summer max 34°C.
Growing season: March - November

Dave Poole wrote:

These flowers are pollinated by birds that come to sip the large
quantities of nectar that are produced at the petal bases. Showing
the ultimate in adaptation. the branch tips are bare, providing 6"
long perches for the birds' convenience. It is a stunning sight, even
though only a couple of flowers are open at the moment. There are
hundreds of buds promising several weeks of colour. I'll take a pic
of the spike when it is in full bloom.

Post a link here when you do, it sounds very interesting. I'll give you
this weeks URG award for patient gardening! Is it good looking in the
five years before it blooms?

On 16/7/04 7:52 am, in article ,
"Dave Poole" wrote:

The good bit is that after a 5 year wait, a clump of Puya alpestris in
my garden has just burst into flower. snip
Dave, we were in Tresco last week and one of the Puyas was in flower but I'm
not sure which it is. There's another which astonished me the first time I
saw it - it had bright green flowers and at first I thought someone had
stuck green plastic bits onto it! That one was over by last week, though.
It's amazing you're growing those succesfully in Devon, even given the
micro-climate you've created in your garden.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds after garden to email me)

On Fri, 16 Jul 2004 07:52:34 +0100, Dave Poole
wrote:

The good bit is that after a 5 year wait, a clump of Puya alpestris in
my garden has just burst into flower. For those who don't know it,
this is a bromeliad somewhat tenuously related to the pineapple, which
produces rather attractive 3ft wide rosettes of silvery, but lethally
thorny arching leaves. Unlike many bromeliads, it is terrestrial,
native to the Andean slopes in Chile where it survives on very poor,
thin soils and is thought to derive at least some of its nourishment
from small animals that die after being trapped by its backward
pointing spines.

After several years, the rosette produces a 5 foot tall., stout flower
spike terminating in branches held out almost at perfect right angles
creating the ultimate architectural outline. At the base of each
branch lie clusters of 3" long, very heavily textured flowers in the
most incredible dark turquoise blue each with vivid yellow,
contrasting stamens. As with almost all bromeliads, the flowers have
just 3 petals, but their size and colour make this one of the most
spectacular of them all.

These flowers are pollinated by birds that come to sip the large
quantities of nectar that are produced at the petal bases. Showing
the ultimate in adaptation. the branch tips are bare, providing 6"
long perches for the birds' convenience. It is a stunning sight, even
though only a couple of flowers are open at the moment. There are
hundreds of buds promising several weeks of colour. I'll take a pic
of the spike when it is in full bloom.

I also have one, but not as advanced as yours so I've a few years to
wait for the flowers. Got a bit burnt by last Feb's cold snap but
still alive. I also have some young plants of P. venusta, grown from
seed from Chiltern. And some seedlings of P. chilensis from seed
bought in the shop at Tresco in a moment of weakness. They take a
great many years to reach flowering maturity, apparently, so I doubt
I'll ever see them in flower.


--
Chris

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net

Sacha wrote:

Dave, we were in Tresco last week

Arrgh, stop making me jealous ;-) I'm stuck with teaching level 3 NVQ
students. The dullness of the 'syllabus' is only just about
counteracted by their enthusiasm.

nd one of the Puyas was in flower but I'm
not sure which it is. There's another which astonished me the first time I
saw it - it had bright green flowers and at first I thought someone had
stuck green plastic bits onto it!

This is the amazing thing about them Sasha - the colours are so
unreal! I've just popped out again to look at them. I still can't
believe it and I've seen it flower so many times before in other
gardens.

hat one was over by last week, though.
It's amazing you're growing those succesfully in Devon, even given the
micro-climate you've created in your garden.

Well, P.alpestris isn't really that tender, although I have to admit
that I'm a bit pleased that it has coped with the high levels of
humidity and moisture that normally prevent me from growing such
plants. Its a Cracker!


Dave Poole
Torquay, Coastal South Devon UK
Winter min -2°C. Summer max 34°C.
Growing season: March - November

On 16/7/04 8:58 pm, in article ,
"Dave Poole" wrote:
snip

Well, P.alpestris isn't really that tender, although I have to admit
that I'm a bit pleased that it has coped with the high levels of
humidity and moisture that normally prevent me from growing such
plants. Its a Cracker!

And Ray has just told me that the one we saw in Tresco is P. alpestris, too!
One of these days we should do an urg meet in Tresco....... ;-)
www.tresco.co.uk for those who would like to explore a bit.
--

Sacha
(remove the weeds after garden to email me)

The message
from Sacha contains these words:

On 16/7/04 8:58 pm, in article ,
"Dave Poole" wrote:
snip

Well, P.alpestris isn't really that tender, although I have to admit
that I'm a bit pleased that it has coped with the high levels of
humidity and moisture that normally prevent me from growing such
plants. Its a Cracker!

And Ray has just told me that the one we saw in Tresco is P. alpestris, too!

One flowered here on Arran last summer, in Brodick Castle gardens.
IIRC, the plant was six years old and had been grown from Tresco seed;
it's exposed to sun (and wind) all day long against a south-facing wall
of the castle. The colour is so extraordinary it looks like an
artificial flower.

Janet.

On 22/7/04 22:23, in article ,
"Janet Baraclough.." wrote:

The message
from Sacha contains these words:

On 16/7/04 8:58 pm, in article ,
"Dave Poole" wrote:
snip

Well, P.alpestris isn't really that tender, although I have to admit
that I'm a bit pleased that it has coped with the high levels of
humidity and moisture that normally prevent me from growing such
plants. Its a Cracker!

And Ray has just told me that the one we saw in Tresco is P. alpestris, too!

One flowered here on Arran last summer, in Brodick Castle gardens.
IIRC, the plant was six years old and had been grown from Tresco seed;
it's exposed to sun (and wind) all day long against a south-facing wall
of the castle. The colour is so extraordinary it looks like an
artificial flower.

That's it. You've summed it up perfectly.
--

Sacha
(remove the weeds after garden to email me)

On 22/7/04 22:23, in article ,
"Janet Baraclough.." wrote:

The message
from Sacha contains these words:

On 16/7/04 8:58 pm, in article ,
"Dave Poole" wrote:
snip

Well, P.alpestris isn't really that tender, although I have to admit
that I'm a bit pleased that it has coped with the high levels of
humidity and moisture that normally prevent me from growing such
plants. Its a Cracker!

And Ray has just told me that the one we saw in Tresco is P. alpestris, too!

One flowered here on Arran last summer, in Brodick Castle gardens.
IIRC, the plant was six years old and had been grown from Tresco seed;
it's exposed to sun (and wind) all day long against a south-facing wall
of the castle. The colour is so extraordinary it looks like an
artificial flower.

That's it. You've summed it up perfectly.
--

Sacha
(remove the weeds after garden to email me)