C,

The Bromeliad is a Guzmania. Unfortunately, I don't know the species. Maybe someone else does. I probably would have cut it off too, but I am not an expert. Maybe someone else will be able to answer that as well. What I do know is you cannot get it to grow back because Bromeliads bloom once and then die. However, in the process of dying Bromeliads grow pups so you have new plant life to take care of until they too bloom, produce pups and die. Keep taking care of it well and look for pups soon. Guzmanias like moderate light, keep soil moist at all times, keep water in the urn, prefers high humidity and you can use a fertiizer if you like. Some people in this forum use N-P-K ratios of 1 part N to 1.5 parts P to 2 parts K while others use an even 20-20-20 or 10-10-10 etc. and others have different preferences as well. I still don't use fertilizers yet because I am scared (chicken, really).

I hope I helped a little.

Hi "chig".
Your bromeliad is a guzmania. You did the right thing by cutting off the finished, brown flower stalk. The vast majority of bromeliads only flower once from their centre vase of leaves. Guzmanias' flower stalks last for a long time with good colour (several months), but not forever.
If you look closely at the green leaves, you might notice new young leaves starting to grow from its outer base. These offsets, or "pups" as many call them, will continue to grow. When approx. the same size as their mother plant, they too will send up an identical flower spike which will look good for several months. You could add some general slow-release fertiliser, at half the recommended dose, to the soil mix in the pot. Your orchid will also benefit from that. You could remove the pups when they are over one third the size of the original plant, and pot them individually, or you could leave them there and eventually have a flowering clump. Each plant will usually be smaller than the original, if left to clump. If your plants still look healthy, stick with the same growing conditions they are used to eg. light and moisture. In your area, you will probably need to keep them indoors during winter.

I hope this helps. Good luck.

Cheers,
Kerry

oopsy! "hort lvr 4life" answered at the same time. Our answers are similar, so hopefully you will be on the right track from here.

Kerry