This attractive foliage bromeliad is very easy to grow in the home thriving with very little care. As long as the central well in the leaf rosette has water in it (ideally rainwater) and it is in a bright position (but out of direct midday summer sunlight when grown behind glass) then that is pretty much ‘Job Done’. It is also reliably hardy outside in warmer parts of the UK. The 10 to 15cm long, shiny green, strap like leaves radiate from the centre of the rosette outwards take on a deep wine red colouration if given good light. As for growing outside our winter trials in the South of England have had these beauties survive short spells unprotected at -6c, even at that temperature there was little to no damage. Just make sure they are planted in a sheltered spot such as close to a house wall or in the branches of an evergreen tree.

As the main plant matures it starts to send out plantlets and can create impressive looking clumps with time. They look particularly good in a hanging basket, trailing over the edge of a large pot or growing out the side of an old stone wall.

Naturally it is an epiphyte happily growing in the bowl of trees and along their branches in the Brazilian rainforest but it can be grown terrestrially if given an open, moist but free draining compost such as  a mix of peat, sharp sand, bark chip and perlite. Clusters of tiny blue flowers eventually appear in the plants centre pushing up from the watery well and stopping just above the water line for pollination.

Sent as a young plant in a 5.5cm pot.