Puya flowering

Use this forum to discuss matters relating to xeric Bromeliads such as Hechtia, Dyckia, Puya, Tillandsia and related species. This is where one posts unknown plant photos for ID help.
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Paul S
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Puya flowering

#1

Post by Paul S »

Not that common a sight in the UK, my puya is flowering this year for the 3rd time in 20 years. I bought it as P. berteroana, clearly it isn't - I suspect a hybrid with chilensis. Whatever its lineage it is a cracker! For scale I am around 6ft in those boots...
puya3105.jpg
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Azuleja
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Re: Puya flowering

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Post by Azuleja »

Wow, congrats! When you say third time in twenty, has it bloomed the last three years or intermittently?
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Paul S
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Re: Puya flowering

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Post by Paul S »

Intermittently. Seems to take a while to gather a head of steam in between times. Worth the wait, though.
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Melt in the Sun
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Re: Puya flowering

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Post by Melt in the Sun »

Awesome! I am still waiting on my first P. alpestris bloom...6.5 years in the ground now from a 3-gallon plant.
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Azuleja
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Re: Puya flowering

#5

Post by Azuleja »

I have Puya venusta in a 3 INCH pot :cry:
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Viegener
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Re: Puya flowering

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Post by Viegener »

I've had a clump of P. alpestris (might be P. bertronia though) for 10 years without a flower. It's growing in a very hot poor spot, and I keep thinking it would bloom if I put it on drip!

Might be 15 years old even...
Luc
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Re: Puya flowering

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Post by Luc »

Interesting. Puya is good genus for temperate climate but they really need a lot of space (too much).
This is an Echium pininana in the background ? Don't they need mild temperatures to thrive ?
What was the lower temperature they ( The Puya and the Echium) have had to undergo ?
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Azuleja
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Re: Puya flowering

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Post by Azuleja »

Puya and dyckia can be crossed, which is exciting to me for the potential of smaller size plants with more interesting foliage and flower potential.
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Paul S
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Re: Puya flowering

#9

Post by Paul S »

Azuleja wrote:Puya and dyckia can be crossed, which is exciting to me for the potential of smaller size plants with more interesting foliage and flower potential.
I wonder how on earth one would spell or pronounce the resultant cross, depending on who was mum? x Puckia? x Puyckia? x Dyckya? x Dya?

Luc - yes, echium hybrids. The lowest temp I have had since gardening here was -8C with a lot of wet snow (we get 'the wrong kind of snow' in the UK) and a week below freezing day and night. The puya survived that. I have been growing echiums here for 20 years and it seems there is a kind of 'speed evolution' taking place. Plants that survive below -6C seem to pass that on and gradually the plants are becoming more frost resistant. I lost them all at -8C but the seed is viable below that and up they came again. Also some years ago I had E. pininana and wildpretii both in flower at the same time - both are constantly covered in bees who seem to have made a race of hybrids. Then I flowered a white cultivar and now white is in the mix. I never quite know how they are going to look or what colour the flowers will be. This year I had E. gentianoides flower for the first time so I wonder if that intense blue might also enter the gene pool?
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Azuleja
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Re: Puya flowering

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Post by Azuleja »

Yes, unfortunately they use puyckia and dyckipu, neither of which I can bring myself to say.
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Spination
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Re: Puya flowering

#11

Post by Spination »

:lol:
Thanks Azul. A good laugh first thing in the morning is a great start to a day.
And yes, I'd be careful too saying any of those names out loud. Could easily raise an eyebrow or two...or provoke an even stronger adverse reaction. :eek:
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