In July, I had this pair of Bill. zebrina come into bloom. It was the first time I had ever grown it from seed to flower, so it was a fun and rewarding experience. The remarkable thing of it all was that these two seedlings, growing in a pot for 4 years commenced blooming virtually within hours of each other.

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Bill. rosea has been in my collection for many years. I can normally count on it to start blooming for me during the second week of August. This year I saw nothing, and I assumed it was going to take the year off. As it turned out, (I think) our unusually cool summer delayed its bloom by about a month. My Aechmea fasciata is still in bloom, too. It's never been flowering this late.

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Four years ago, I crossed Billbergia 'Windii' with B. rosea. The plan was to get some of the rosea traits - interesting leaf markings and brilliant pink bracts- in a smaller package. The grex has been somewhat variable with respect to foliage markings, but the flowers have been pretty nice! The first one to bloom was growing in a 4" pot and matured at only 14" tall. Try doing that with a B. rosea!

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After a few days, the flowers reached to slightly below the bottom of the pot. The second to bloom (2 days later) had less interesting foliage, and more of the 'Windii' traits- with narrower leaves, and a longer, pendant inflorescence that reached well below the pot.

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Third to bloom from the grex had very nice banding, and rosea flowering traits that I was seeking.

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close up of the flowers-

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Paul