Bromeliads are one of the most popular plants used indoors and outdoors in central Florida communities such as Palmetto, Parrish, and Bradenton. These tropical plants love environments of high humidity and temperatures that hang in the 70-80°F on a normal basis.
Bromeliads come in a variety of colors, require little maintenance, and are the perfect accent or focal point for your landscaping.
Bromeliads Come in a Variety of Species
One of the best things about bromeliads is their rainbow of colors. They can range from having bright pink centers to all red leaves and striped foliage. Bromeliads come in a variety of species that are frequently planted in the ground on both commercial and residential properties, including:
- Aechmea
- Billbergia
- Guzmania
- Neoregelia
- Nidularium
- Vrisea
You can find many of these species, and more, available at garden centers, such as Three Seasons’s local Palmetto, Florida nursery, where you can buy native plants, get landscaping design assistance, and installation services.
Bromeliad Size Range & Planting Options
Bromeliads are a great option for a focal point or ground covering to your landscaping design. They come in multiple sizes that range from as small as six inches to as tall as a few feet. Because of the height difference within the species, they make perfect focal points and ground cover options for your existing landscaping or you can create a dedicated landscaping bed that showcases a variety of your favorite bromeliads.
Bromeliad Lifespan and Growth
Most bromeliads in Palmetto, Parrish, and other areas of central Florida like Bradenton will last approximately 2-4 years; however, they are constantly producing new offshoots, which are called “pups”. It takes about six to twelve months for the mother plant to die, but the pups can be split and replanted in other parts of your landscaping. In this respect, bromeliads provide endless amounts of vegetation and changes to your landscaping beds.
Planting Your Bromeliads
Since bromeliads grow and produce offshoots frequently, you want to leave enough space for their mature sizes to grow. When planting, space your bromeliads about one to three feet apart in your landscaping beds or around your property.
Make sure the area where you plant your bromeliads is well drained, as a wet area creates root rot and will kill the plant.
Outdoor & Indoor Care for Your Bromeliads
Bromeliads can be kept in containers outdoors, in your landscaping beds, or even kept in indoor containers. They are hardy plants that need very little maintenance, which makes them a prime option for filling in your landscaping beds or bringing tropical vegetation indoors.
Bromeliads have moderate drought tolerance and can easily go 1-2 weeks without water during the hot and dry months, once they are established in the ground. As long as you select the right location and water them occasionally, you will not need to give much more attention to your bromeliads.
Outdoor Care
When it comes to your outdoors, bromeliads are the perfect option for anywhere on your property. With their numerous color options and various sizes, they make the perfect ground cover and the prettiest focal points.
Additionally, immature bromeliads thrive in containers! Grow them on porches until they mature and transfer them into your landscaping. As a landscaping plant, you can use them in an assortment of ways throughout your yard, including:
- Lining your walkways
- Underneath trees
- Surrounding small palms on your property
- Accents in a mixed vegetation bed
- Grouped in a bed dedicated to bromeliads
- In a planter box
Indoor Care
As indoor plants, bromeliads need an environment that allows for a little sunlight, or artificial light coupled with high humidity. Your bathroom or kitchen would be ideal for keeping them healthy and alive the longest.
You can simulate humidity in other parts of your home by placing your container above a small number of pebbles and water, as long as the water cannot get into the planter and cause root rot.
Additional Plant Care Tips to Keep Your Bromeliads Alive & Well
Keeping your bromeliads alive and well requires very little, but it is important to make sure you are doing what you need to when it is required. At Three Seasons, we recommend these additional tips for your plant care:
- Treat them like perennials. They grow best when fertilized every 6-8 weeks from March through October.
- They thrive in bright, indirect sunlight or in areas with dappled shade.
- They require humidity, so they thrive in the natural Florida environment better than they would indoors. (If you create their ideal environment, they will grow fine indoors.)
- Bromeliads may scorch if exposed to direct sunlight for long periods of time.
Call us for information about the various bromeliad species available at our nursery.
If you live in Central Florida communities such as Palmetto, Parrish, or Bradenton, and would like more information on the various species of bromeliads that we carry at our nursery or for adding them to your existing landscaping design, contact Three Seasons at 941-748-4613. Give these popular plant species a home on your property and enjoy the beauty they bring to your outdoor and indoor living spaces.
