It's Puya time again.

[Geoff]

The Huntington's collection of Puyas is in full bloom this time of year, though there are about a dozen Puyas that flower other times of the year… few are much to look at, though.

Puya alpestris

Puya chilensis

Puya coerulea pink-lavender form

Puya venusta (a favorite with the hummingbirds)

And unknown/unlabeled species with yellow-green flowers (not berteroana as that one is done and over with a month ago or more)

Puya spathacea

[DoomsDave]

YOW

[SubTropicRay]

Spectacular!!

[Cikas]

Breathtaking!!!

[Tracy]

I find some Puya species to be attractive plants even when not in bloom.  The silvery green color is a great contrast against green plants.  A great deal of patience is required to see either of these bloom... the clump is about 7 years in the ground with no blossoms yet.  The potted one I transplanted up into this pot about 4 years ago and again, no bloom.

[XYZ]

Great, if underutilized, landscape bromes for warm temperate landscapes. Some can be very "assertive" in the garden, so careful planning and siting required. Thanks for posting these photos, Jeff.

[Tracy]

35 minutes ago, stone jaguar said:

Some can be very "assertive" in the garden, so careful planning and siting required.

So very true.  I had to dig up all my Puya alpestris and move them to a more "contained" area.  Containers are appropriate unless you have room for them to expand endlessly.

[XYZ]

2 hours ago, stone jaguar said:

Thanks for posting these photos, Jeff.

That would be, "Thanks for posting these photos, Geoff".

Yanks...

[Tracy]

A small Puya which blooms on an annual basis for me is Puya mirabilis.  As a plant it isn't much to look at, similar to a small narrow leafed P alpestris.  Not as nice a bloom as some of the other Puya, but the fact that it is consistent as a bloomer, and is much easier to contain are definitely in the plus column for mirabilis.

[Tracy]

On 7/16/2017 at 9:06 PM, Tracy said:

A small Puya which blooms on an annual basis for me is Puya mirabilis.

Just like clockwork it is late July and the Puya mirabilis are in bloom again.  None of my others have bloomed in the intervening years.  I was up at Quail Botanical (now San Diego Botanical Garden) last month and went to check on the Puyas and saw many dead blossoms.   I was kicking myself for not getting there earlier in the Spring to catch them in bloom!  They have several species with only a few marked.  The blooms would have made them much easier to ID.  So mark your calendars for next April to catch more of the other species in bloom.

[The Silent Seed]

Beautiful! 

These do not die after flowering, right? Are there any finger-friendly species? 

[Tracy]

5 hours ago, santoury said:

These do not die after flowering, right? Are there any finger-friendly species? 

While they don't die right away after flowering like many bromeliads they do eventually but most of the dead get's buried under new pups which smother the old plant.  They tend to develop into large colonies.  Finger friendly in the genus... NO but the mirabilis is probably the least threatening.  I get barb tips broken off but they typically don't draw blood like some of P. miribilis's bigger cousins in the genus.  My biggest species which was incorrectly labeled as P alpestris is especially viscous with it's backward hooked barbs.  When you try to weed under it and get hooked, you have to push further in before trying to extract your arm... it takes it's pound of flesh.  The big species has been growing in the ground here for 9 years, no flowers yet, so I can't id it.  My real alpestris plants only bloomed once in those same nine years.