Join A Local Bromeliad Society:

Want to learn more about bromeliads? Where to get different varieties? How to best grow them? Join a local Bromeliad Society - a fellowship of growers and hobbyists. Societies sponsor sales events, promote Bromeliad growing, provide information thru workshops, lectures, and discussions. Members often offer formal and informal garden tours for their members.

Here is a link to the FCBS Members List for current local Florida contacts, meeting times and dates. Many societies also have a news letter.

Bromeliad Society International (BSI) has a world-wide listing of affiliated societies.

Upcoming Events

Bromeliads in the Florida Public Gardens - Where to see them

Bromeliads have been a part of Florida's Public Landscape for many years. They can be found as part of the displays at most of the large theme parks, zoo's, and pretty much anywhere they needed a tropical splash of color. The Best places to view them though are the Botanical Gardens - Many unique specimens have been donated and acquired at these facilities with full-time staffs and many, many volunteers. Some of our Bromeliad Societies meet at their respective local Gardens. And the Bromeliad Identification Center (BIC) is located at Marie Selby in Sarasota.

• Leu Gardens - Orlando - Bromeliad Society of Central Florida
• Mounts Botanical Garden - Palm Beach - Boca Raton Bromeliad Society
• Selby Botanical Gardens - Sarasota Bromeliad Society
• Fairchild Tropic Botanic Garden - Miami -  Bromeliad Society of South Florida
• Florida Botanical Gardens

Bromeliad Related Topix:

Joining my first Bromeliad Society I was handed a check list of interests that were hobby related - everything from hybridizing to showing to plant tours was on this list - abut thirty items on this obviously thought out list. For me, after figuring out the "how to" grow a plant it could get pretty boring just watching it grow. Though there is indeed an art of doing this well that is not my particular current interest. Seeing how others do it, where they are from, who did what to produce a hybrid - now that tweaks my curiosity. I've added these other links or pages that may end up being developed into their own category but for now - here they are.

• Bromeliad Glossary and Eco-Regions
• Collection Tour - George & Irene Aldrich - Plants-N-Things
• Collection Tour - Dennis & Linda Cathcart - Tropiflora
• Evil Weevil
• Neoregelia Sub-genus List

Political Maps - University of Texas - Links

The reference material for Bromeliad specie usually includes the state or territory where it was type collected. A good political map will get me an approximation of the latitude and general idea of where in the world the plant is from. I provide links to specific maps from the University of Texas Library system that I use to start my search. If I want to get more specific I use Google Earth. 

• Americas - South of the U.S.
• Belize
• Brazil
• Costa Rica
• Ecuador
• Jamaica
• Mexico
• Peru
• Venezuela

Other Research Links

What is in a name?  Many names hold large amounts of meaning. Here is a place to start sorting out those unique names.

• Dictionary of Botanical Epithets