Introduction: My fascination with Fierce Flora

I've been growing and collecting plants for many years (more than I'd care to admit at this point in my Blog!!)  I was born in Honolulu, Hawaii & from a very young age was drawn to plants that looked harsh & evil but then would eventually produce the most flabbergasting colorful blooms!!  My parents and I lived in a small area called Ewa Beach.  Our little cul-de-sac was surrounded by dense wooded areas as well as commercial Sugar Cane & Pineapple (Ananas Cosmosus, a terrestrial Bromeliad belonging to the subfamily Bromelioideae, originating from Brazil.) fields.  My Mom was obsessed with Pineapple motif decor and I soon became intrigued with the Pineapple plant and wanted to know everything about it (Of course, this led to me DEMANDING that we take a tour of the Dole Pineapple Plant which bothered Mama, because 'Only tourists do THAT!').  Keep in mind, at this point in my life I was 6 years old.

Today, I live in the Southern California Desert---Desert Hot Springs, to be exact.  The summer months here can be pretty brutal, but the rest of the year is spot-on GORGEOUS!  We have sun here about 97% of the time, and I have found that you can grow almost anything here with the right micro-climates in your yard or indoors by bright windows.  I'll try to stick with this blogging thing.  It is kind of new to me--I've only ever done 1 other private blog and that was basically just a photo sharing tool for myself and a friend of mine on the East Coast!  I decided to give this a 'GO' because I haven't found many folks such as myself here in the Desert who are into collecting and growing Bromeliads.  When I lived in Los Angeles, I met MANY.  Perhaps it is due to the milder climate/higher humidity there.  When I relocated to Palm Springs in 2003, I sadly left many prized plants behind because they were so happy in their landscape spots in & under tall trees and rock gardens, I didn't have the heart to dig them up or cut them down just to potentially fry them in the hot & dry desert climate.  It is a good thing, too---For the KEY to having your Tropical Broms thrive out here in 120° heat is microclimates.  Both houses I have lived in here in the Desert were on empty dirt lots with just pools when I bought them.  I had to do extensive landscape plantings in both cases to create the right environments for my collection of plants.  So, I brought with me my most desert geared plants: Terrestrial Bromelia, Dyckia, Deuterocohnias, Hechtia, Puyas---as well as Agaves, Aloes, Cacti, Cycads & Yuccas.  Sure, if you are in the Desert and have the time, $$$$ and space for climate-controlled Shadehouses, you can get right to it growing soft-leaved varieties of Bromeliads.  My next house, I would like to have a couple of shadehouses with irrigation, misters and rows and rows of Guzmanias, Vriesea and Cryptanthus.  I the meantime, I do what I can with what I have to work with!!

Stay Tuned!! ;-)

photo: My Bromelia Balansae in bloom