Bromeliad information: clubs, photos, species, and cultivation

Bromeliad Encyclopedia: Beginners Look Here! Rather than reinventing the wheel on our site the Florida Council of Bromeliad Societies www.fcbs.org has the Bromeliad Encyclopedia "serving the Bromeliad enthusiasts of Florida and the Internet Community." Great growing information with potting and mounting tips along with a comprehensive photo index. Even old pros use this great site for its handy reference. There is even a registration for a bromeliad round robin.

The Bromeliad Society International (BSI), membership includes the bimonthy Journal of the Bromeliad Society with new discoveries, color photos and the latest bromeliad information.

Charlie's Web is the personal website of Charles E. Dills, retired professor of chemistry at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo CA. He has been collecting since 1970 and has a Photo Directory of bromeliads on his site as well as the inventories of the indigenous bromeliads of a few countries such as Ecuador and Mexico.

Dyckiabrazil.blogspot.com is a blog with posts by Constantino. He post fotos of his dyckia collection and dyckias from others. The unblemished plants are exceptional in the photographs and you might be able to glean info about Brazil and climate. There are some choice silver, red and black dyckias on this blog. Yes, black.

The Epiphytic Plant Research and Information Center (EPRIC) was founded February 1997 and has the following goals:
1.To maintain the natural habitats of epiphytic plants such as epiphytic cacti and epiphytic succulents, bromeliads, tillandsia's, hoyas, orchids, etc and the flora which grows together with these epiphytic plants such as tropical ferns.
2.To give information to the public about epiphytic plants such as information about culture, rooting, societies, growers, books etc.
3.To maintain a generic reserve collection of all epiphytic plants and also of their hybrids so that old cultivars will not get lost.
4.To help with publications about epiphytic plants.

Greenstock Nurseries in Australia offers a download of tropicals with beautiful pictures of Alcantareas and other bromeliads grown exquisitely in Queensland. They have a great selection of Alcantareas photos of species and varieties not commonly seen here.

Köhres Kakteen is a german site with some wonderful tillandsia photos that can help with identification. There are also pictures of Orchids and many Cacti and Succulents where you can find Dyckias, Hechtias and Abromeitiellas (Deuterocohnias).

The New York Bromeliad Society with some good cultural information and photographs.

San Francisco Succulent and Cactus Society
Is our companion society in our annual June Sale. Their meetings are on the 3rd Tuesday of the month. Visit their site for details.

San Francisco Botanical Garden at Strybing Arboretum Escape to a unique urban oasis of extraordinary beauty. Enjoy the San Francisco Botanical Garden's world of gardens, excellent horticulture library, bookstore, and education programs. The San Francisco Botanical Garden is open daily, 365 days a year, and is free to the public. Weekdays: 8:00 am to 4:30 pm. Weekends & Holidays: 10 am to 5 pm. FREE GUIDED WALKS are given daily at 1:30 pm.

Alcantarea imperialis in a San Rafael Garden. Tom Henthorne has kindly sent us the link for a look at an Alcantarea that has bloomed this year, 2009. Our thanks to him and Jay Graham, photographer.

Bromeliad Sources, Growers and Nurseries

Kents Bromeliad Nursery, Inc. The nation's largest Bromeliad Grower just got bigger. Kent's Bromeliad Nursery recently completed an acquisition of new greenhouse space. With the acquisition of more greenhouses, it now boasts more than 1,000,000 square feet of production area in Vista and San Marcos, CA.

Tillandsia International, www.airplant.com
The largest grower of tillandisas in North America and a good source for photos, growing tips and booklets.