Don showed how to make the most of bromeliads by planting them into stylish, dramatic pots. The fabulous sculptural beauty of bromeliads is at its best when they’re dressed up and looking great, and the good news is that these plants are easy to grow.
Wide and handsome
The greyish, mottled look of a low, wide zinc tray (around $80 from Java Road Homewares) goes beautifully with the muddy maroon colours of a large neoregelia bromeliad. Though this pot plant will do best outdoors, you could also bring it inside for a few weeks to impress your guests.
Rising star
Don chose a tall pot for a tall bromeliad. Vriesea vinicolor will reach 1.5m (5′) high and wide when fully grown. The gunmetal grey colour of the pot ($200 from Garden Life) and the purpley red vriesea are a divine pairing. (Tip: tall pots, like the one we used for the vriesea, must have good drainage).
Hot combo
For high drama, Don combined a striking spotted billbergia (Billbergia ‘Hallelujah’) with a vivid orange terracotta planter ($19 from Pots Direct). The orange is a wonderfully bright colour, and the rich red and burgundy hues of the billbergia, spotted with white, makes a hot combination for modern interiors.
Six at a time
Don planted six Neoregelia ‘Zoe’ into a strawberry planter ($21 from Pots Direct). It looks like a squeeze at the sides but the bromeliads’ limited root system makes it very easy to fit them in the spots where strawberries usually live.
Mini pineapple?
x Neophytum ‘Galactic Warrior’ looks a bit like a mini pineapple plant and is a bit prickly, but its lipstick pink colours are gorgeous. Don planted it in a blue glazed half-urn ($69 from Pots Direct).
Planting tips
Unless you have a conservatory, bromeliads are not really indoor plants. They should spend most of the year outside, preferably in dappled shade. Bromeliad specialists and some good nurseries sell a bromeliad potting mix, but you can make your own mix, just make sure it’s open and free draining. As a homemade bromeliad potting compost, a 50:50 mix of orchid potting mix and standard potting mix will be fine. When planting up make sure the central cup (which holds water) is perfectly vertical. It’s hard to damage bromeliad roots, so you don’t need to handle them with kid gloves. But go easy on the fertiliser: a feed of half-strength Nitrosol mixed with Seasol in summer is all that they need. Make sure there’s always water in the central cup, keep them in dappled shade and they should be trouble-free. And don’t put them in any old pot, choose something worthy of these very special plants.
Further information
Pot suppliers
The Pottery Shack, phone: (02) 9517 2675
Garden Life, phone: (02) 9332 1199
Java Road Homewares, phone: (07) 5520 5755
Pots Direct, phone: (07) 5579 9480
Bromeliads
Bromeliads range from about $10 for a 150mm (6″) pot to $40 for a 300mm (12″) pot. Ask for them at your local nursery, or try a specialist bromeliad nursery such as the ones listed below. (Note: some of the varieties Don used are new, and may not be available yet.)
The Olive Branch (open by appointment)
Ferny Grove Qld 4055
Phone: (07) 3351 1203
Bromagic
Palmwoods, Qld
Phone: (07) 5445 0441
Bromeliad Garden Nursery
Wahroonga, NSW
Phone: (02) 9489 2063
Further reading
This story is featured in the November edition of the Burke’s Backyard Magazine, available at newsagents and supermarkets for $5.20.
‘Growing Bromeliads’, by The Bromeliad Society of Australia, ed. Barry E Williams. Published by Kangaroo Press, 1996, ISBN 0864 173369. Cost: $24.95.