If you’re shopping for a holiday gift plant, you’re bound to
see some odd, exotic
plants among your garden center offerings.

Some may be growing on what looks like little stumps. Most
have brightly colored leaves
or peculiar flowers and thick, waxy leaves.

They’re called bromeliads.

"Bromeliaceae is a very large family of
plants," said Paul Thomas, a
horticulturist with the University of Georgia Extension Service.
"They’re epiphytic,
which means they grow on trees, usually in very tropical
environments."

The bromeliads you’re apt to buy in stores aren’t Georgia
products. They come from
South and Central America, from Peru and Chile up through
Mexico.

"Georgia has a native bromeliad," Thomas said.
"It’s called Spanish
moss, which is a Tillandsia plant. As you go further
south into Florida, you’ll
find many other Tillandsias."

Another famous bromeliad is the pineapple. That’s one of the
biggest plants in the
family, although there are a few bigger species.

"So you have bromeliads that you eat, and you have some
that can be used as
packing material," Thomas said. "Another whole group
is floriferous — they’re
grown for their exotic flowers."

Among these plants, the ones you’ll find in stores this
Christmas and throughout the
year, are Cryptomeria, which are sometimes called
"Christmas stars" and
other names. "They’re noted for their multicolored, flat,
pineapple-like
leaves," Thomas said. "They make a wonderful indoor
ground cover and neat pot
plants."

One spectacular bromeliad is a Vriesia. "This
plant has huge red bracts on
the flower scape," he said. "It sends up what looks
like a large, bright red
sword, which opens up to reveal bright blue flowers."

Bromeliads come in countless shapes and sizes, from tiny
things to giants. And the
great thing about them, Thomas said, is "they’re all fairly
easy to grow."

They grow best in medium light. So they do well in east- or
west-facing windows. And
they grow well under artificial light.

"You can carry them outdoors in the summer, and they’ll
bloom like crazy,"
Thomas said.

But remember, they’re epiphytes — they grow on other plants.
"They like to be
watered, but they’re used to having the water run off," he
said. "You can grow
them well in a pot in a regular potting mix, but you have to let
the mix dry out from time
to time."

Or you can attach them to slabs of bark. "They’ll slowly
root into the bark,"
he said, "but you’ll have to water them more
often."

A unique thing about watering bromeliads, Thomas said, is
that their leaves are
complete rosettes, forming perfect cups.

"That’s how a tree dweller survives," he said.
"They’re used to catching
water that way. So water the plant from top to bottom to keep
adequate moisture in those
cups."

To keep the plant looking its best, you’ll need to give it a
thorough shower every
couple of weeks or so.

These plants don’t like a lot of fertilizer, though. Thomas’
rule-of-thumb is to divide
the label recommendations of your normal houseplant fertilizer
by four.

Bromeliads are annuals in Georgia. They’re not cold-tolerant.
In south Florida, though,
they keep growing as long as people take care of them.

"You can have bromeliads that are 10 or 15 years
old," Thomas said, "if
you bring them inside when it turns cool and keep them
watered."

Bromeliads are resistant to most diseases, as long as you
don’t let the roots get
saturated. They’re resistant to most insects, too.

And even apartment dwellers who don’t have many windows can
have big collections of
bromeliads.

"Many of these plants are tiny," Thomas said.
"The entire plant may be
the size of your thumb. And they grow very slowly. So you can
have a big collection of
bromeliads on a single window sill."