Last month I shared
photos of the area on the northside of our garage where I usually (but not this year), sink bromeliads into a base layer of ferns. This year I decided, instead, to use the tall columns in the Southwest corner for a bromeliad display, after all, change is good...
I started the project with my large vriesea (
from Dick's greenhouse) on the column in the very corner. It looked fabulous, but then I left town for a week and when I returned it had been knocked to the ground (squirrels? wind?) and damaged. So I started over with a couple of much smaller plants.
The two large bowls also have an assortment of rhipsalis tucked in, to give that all important "spiller" effect. Neither of these bromeliads came with names.
The larger plants in this bowl are Aechmea recurvata.
Since this short column has a larger circumference and I didn't have a cement slab for the top, I used a piece of metal that I had on hand and just placed a bromeliad wrapped with moss on the surface.
A friend gave me a small bromeliad that was growing at a right angle to it's sturdy stem so I took advantage of that and tied it to the tetrapanax trunk in front of the corner display.
Over behind the garage my original bromeliad trashcan lid plantings (on the two columns) got a much needed refresh this year.
Old plants were pulled and new ones were tucked in.
When I first came up with this planting idea there were three conifers along the fence line just to the right, on the neighbor's side, creating a much shadier area. When those came out I was concerned the increased light might be too much for the bromeliads, but they've thrived and their coloring is so much more vibrant.
The vertical trashcan lid planting is in its 4th summer!
I honestly never thought it would last this long...
The tillandsia has been putting on a bloom show for weeks...
One more look at the corner plantings...
Beause I have to share that taking these photos it bothered me how empty the wall (fence) behind the bromeliads was. I didn't want to do much, but it needed something.
A trip to BBC Steel provided the perfect simple metal ring which plays with all the circle shapes I have to the left of this area, like the circle planters hanging under the shade pavilion and the other mounted plants on the fence to the left. Yay!
All material © 2009-2023 by Loree L Bohl. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.
This is pretty darn amazing! How I wish I could so something similar, but my grand bromeliad experience was only partially successful. Definitely no Spanish moss here!
ReplyDeleteHow often do you water/mist these? It seems like some of them need daily misting.
Well there's only Spanish moss here part of the year...
DeleteThey get daily watering/misting when it's as hot as it's been this week (four days in the 100's, highest 108), but every other when it's in the 80s seems to be fine, sometimes every third.
Looks fantastic, Loree! How are the plants doing with the heat?
ReplyDeleteJust fine actually, I think they like it.
DeleteI love those trash can lid plantings. Your display looks like something you'd find in an art museum if art museums had the sense to include plants. I admire your success in keeping the bromeliads looking so good too - I can't manage that and my climate would seemingly be more hospitable for them than yours :(
ReplyDeleteI hope you're staying cool! It's warm here (89F at the moment) but not nearly as uncomfortable as what you're getting in the PNW.
It's been hot that's for sure, thank goodness foe a/c. I wish that I could leave the bromeliads outside year round. They are so much happier in a place where I can just spray them with the hose.
DeleteYour sense of style never quits...love that circle!
ReplyDeleterickii
Ah, thank you rickii!
DeleteYou are too clever. Just having a few things in containers seems like a lot of extra work to me and a significant part of your plants are cleverly contained. I’m impressed with the concepts and the execution.
ReplyDeleteThanks Linda. It's that pesky need to garden the way I want to garden even when I don't live in a climate that supports it...
DeletePositively drooling over all those bromeliads and rhipsalis!
ReplyDeleteThat's high praise coming from you, who I know has their own very impressive bromeliad and rhipsalis collection.
DeleteMy favorite shape--the circle. Your garden corner expresses it perfectly! I also wondered about watering like Gerhard did. It is all so gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteI never set out to stick to the circle theme, it's just been a natural evolution. Why fight it when it works, right? Here's what I told Gerhard: they get daily watering/misting when it's as hot as it's been this week (four days in the 100's, highest 108), but every other when it's in the 80s seems to be fine, sometimes every third.
DeleteSuch hot temps for you! Wow. But bromeliads are tropical so probably happy as long as they "feel the mist."
DeleteI'm always blown away by your creativity in the shady area. The vertical trashcan has always been the favorite, but there is much competition, especially the bromeliad on the stocky column in the corner: it's a perfect specimen. I want to say spotless...
ReplyDeleteChavli
It is spotless! But with spots ;)
DeleteThat all looks great. The vertical columns with explosions of foliage at the top, and the trash can lid. Metal with life growing from it.
ReplyDeleteHere Spanish Moss is pretty happy on a tree branch just above the ground--the humidity coming from the soil seems to be enough to keep it from getting too dry. Up higher on the tree, it dried out too much.
Interesting about the Spanish moss! Fingers crossed Hilary isn't too tough on your garden!
DeleteTotally stunning, Loree. You never cease to amaze me.
ReplyDeleteGosh, thank you!
DeleteIt still amazes me you can overwinter all of those in your basement and converted gazebo space. I fear if I did that, they would all turn spindly and pale long before summer returned. No wonder you love this time of year.
ReplyDelete