Puya-slight OT

Jane McGary janemcgary@earthlink.net
Sat, 05 Feb 2011 16:05:32 PST
Puya species are fairly easy to grow from seed, but all of them get 
too large to be happy in a pot, and moreover they're viciously spiny 
along the leaf margins so you have to wrap them in a blanket to move 
the pot. I grew one of the highest-elevation species and tried one 
outdoors on the rock garden, but it turned to mush during an Oregon 
winter. I think this is another of the many alpine plants that can't 
stand freezing temperatures when wet. They certainly experience frost 
in nature, but they aren't soaked at the time.

That said, I did have one flower in a large pot kept in a solarium in 
winter. It died after flowering, not having made offsets.

Jane McGary
Portland, Oregon USA

At 10:01 AM 2/5/2011, you wrote:
>In reading about South American bulbs, I found several references to
>Puya (bromeliad) being hardy to zone 7-8. I would like to know what
>PBS members' experiences have been with this genus. Are some of the
>species hardy to zone 7 or colder? What growing conditions have been
>successful?
>
>Kathleen
>Pacific Northwest, in a mild and cloudy winter, unlike much of North
>America


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