Wonderful pics Bob. The bils are yummy, even the names make me hungry!

On your crypt's what is the name of the bottom left lime colored one? Love it!

Very nice, Bob, and always appreciated when somebody takes the time to include the names with the photos!

I'm seeing only seven Billbergias though, and there are eight names. Who's missing? BTW, I think there's one of mine in there, so I'm wondering where you got them.

What is the silver Crypt behind the green one? Sure looks like 'Ken Vinzant' but I'm guessing it may be Jim Irvin's 'Frostbite'. From what I've seen, those two look remarkably similar.

Lisa,Whats missing is my brain...There is no bil. next to 'Cherry Bomb'..scratch 'Peach Parfait.[I thought that orangish leaf was PP,but its 'Tourmaline's' leaf.] I got a little punchy trying to arrange the write-ups to the photos,etc.and not goof up. And was doing it all from memory.[what memory is that? you might ask].
All the plants in these 4 photos came from Jim Irvin.
Heres most of the Crypt lineup:
1st row,L to R...'Dr.Larry' [green];'Rumplestiltskin'[red];
'Durrell'[gr.red]
2nd row,L to R...'Frostbite'[silverish];'Red Rover'[red];
Behind frostbite is 'Hannah Williams'[light/dark brown stripes];Behind HW,'Cinnamon Stick'[red];to the right of CS,;'Fever Pitch'
The last row, two red barred ones,I'd have to check on.
Hope this answes all questions.
Bob

Hi Bob, Dr larry also gave me his name Crypt too, a charming one I agree.
He also gave me 'Hannah Williams' and another one which look alike
but green with same silver striped pattern, Crypt 'Stephen Hoppin',
whose name after the president of Cyptanthus Society.

Great pics Bob. The group photos are good, the close-up is just putting salt on the wound! ;-). 'Incendiary Delight' is a wowzer.
I recently talked to Michael about the availability of 'Calcite' and 'Limestone' and the word is "gotta wait". If I may be presumptuous and ask, is there another great source of Bills that I'm not aware of or do you have a generous benefactor. The plants are A-1! My offer still stands about any un-identified plants ;-P.

Gonz,I had posted this once before,but you may have missed it. The source for all the pictured plants is Jim Irvin.
You can view his albums on Club Photo.
The address to go direct to his page is this:
http://members8.clubphoto.com/james396110/guest-1.phtml
The bromeliad albums are 7 thru 11.
You can e-mail him for info/price list at:
nobugs@swfla.rr.com
Great guy to order from,quality plants,great service.
Good luck,Bob

Calcite $26 Limestone $24

Bob, you are messing with my heart rate with these photos! It's great seeing the different bills side by side; I can see there *is* a distinction from one spotted bill to another! I do like that 'Cold Fusion' and 'Limestone'. Well, 'Sparkling Burgundy, too, and 'Incendiary Delight'; shoot, they're all gorgeous.

Even the crypts are tempting, and I've never paid much attention to them before. I have a bunch, but they are mostly tiny little pink things, and fragile, very fragile. Yours look a little more beefy -- what size are those pots?

Catkim,all those crypts are at the Botanical Gardens,they're not mine,tho I have a bunch that I just got from Jim Irvin,that I'll post later,when potted.
Check out his photoclub webpage as posted above for gonzer...amazing plants.
The ones shown above are in 3" pots,except for two,that are in 4" pots,[Durrell] and one not id'd in back row.
These are just offsets,not yet rooted,so they're still in the growing greenhouse before going out on display.
Bob

Okay, that explains it, Bob. 'Peach Parfait' is one of mine, and I wasn't seeing it there. I'm always curious as to how these things get around, though, since I pretty much just sell locally.

BTW, I think you will find with many broms that the bigger the pot you use the bigger the overall plant will get. I have noticed this with the Crypts, and also with Neos. Sometimes I'll pot some smaller pups into smaller pots, thinking I'll move them up later but then never get around to it, and the smaller ones will mature smaller in all dimensions than the ones I put into larger pots. You can get some huge Crypts if you pot them into 5-6" pots with a rich, moisture-holding media. It depends on the variety too, of course.

wow how odd you said that Lisa I just posted something about pots LOL

Yeah,that was a strange coincidence,two people saying about the same thing at the same time,5or6 time zones apart.
[Twilight Zone stuff !]
Lisa //,hdd...(can we have a 1st name?)...I've read sooo much contradictory articles over the years about pot size,fertilizer,lighting,and so on,that I just ignore them now,and do what works best for me and my growing conditions.But what you both said is right on the money,as to what I've experianced myself by 'winging it' Thanks
Bob

~Nee nee nee nee, nee nee nee nee...~

(that's the Twilight Zone theme, of course!)

Yup, the best thing is to just figure out what works for you, Bob. I've been growing broms forever and I still haven't got a handle on all this. I got into a debate with Sharon the other day about whether fertilizing makes a plant more prone to sunburning or less. I was surprised to hear her on the side of less fertilizing because she's always grown her stuff bigger and lusher than I do, but I think that may be because she puts everything in bigger pots than I do. Her shadehouses are lower light too, but that doesn't seem to be producing strappy plants if the fert is not there. That gave me something to think about, but as noted on hdd's thread, growing them hard can increase other problems too, such as scale infestations and foliar diseases. Air circulation factors into that too, and watering, and..........

......it gets complicated.

Sneaky Bob!!

Right on Bob! Much obliged for the link. I tell ya, it's hard to clean up the drool from a keyboard after looking at those plants. Simply great. I also checked out his 'miscellaneous genera' album and could not believe some of his Tillandsia hybrids, the stuff he creates! (thank God he's on our side). Thanks a load Bob.

What gets me thinking gonzer,is that he's into so many other things.His business is destroying bees nests in peoples homes,including Killer! bees. Then there's the photography,plant hybridizing,mineral collecting,traveling,etc,and he takes great care of his plant customers via e-mails.Very exacting and meticulous.
I like his business card for the bee business."flatrate,or by the sting!" Now thats clever.
Glad you enjoyed the website,..I drool too...no shame in that.
Bob