Lisa, Thanks for the reply! I was thinking that if it were still available, it might be thru growers in Ecuador? I don't currently subscribe to the journal, so don't know if any of the south American nurseries still advertise there. I don't recall ever seeing this at Pamela Koides's old nursery, Birdrock Tropicals, but would have thought hers would be a natural supplier if it were still in the trade, as she grows/grew so many high altitude Tillandsia species that wouldn't survive in Florida or Texas. I have been living almost 20 years now in north Berkeley, very near to the North Berkeley BART station, down in the flats so to speak. I do a lot of my landscape design work here in the Berkeley hills, Albany, El Cerrito, Oakland area, so it is a rather ideal climate for the more cold hardy bromeliads, and over the years I've built up enough plantings in various gardens to be able to use them upon dividing them in other new gardens. I'm always on the look out for other suitable species to try out, and am extremely envious of those of you who can grow all the more tropical types. Still, there are quite a few bromeliads that tolerate the occasional freezes we get here, and the local San Francisco Bromeliad Society is full of members who grow their collections outdoors year round. So Lisa, what part of Berkeley was your home base? This town is just large enough that it feels completely different from area to area. I guess I am mostly plugged into the north Berkeley/Monterey Market/Solano Ave/Thousand Oaks/Fourth Street neighborhoods, rather than south Berkeley or areas more influenced by the University campus, although I do regularly visit Strawberry Canyon, the UC Berkeley Botanic garden, and Tilden Park. I also seem to get a lot of work over in nearby Alameda, where the homes closest to the bay almost never freeze. In fact, these gardens are where I have had the most success with the real warm growers such as the Portea's. Hopefully this post might bring someone out of the wood works who actually grows or has grown Guzmania diffusa! Somehow I doubt this species would have ever survived some place like Seattle, especially after this winter's cold. Even at 10,000 foot elevation in Ecuador or Columbia, I suspect it wouldn't likely get much colder than mid-20'sF in winter, and most of Seattle got into single digits this winter, or at most low teens right near the water.

Hi sevrel, Although I'm not an expert in these matters, I have a couple of suggestions for you to consider. Is it standing in a saucer where it always has contact with water? If this is the case then it probably has 'wet feet' which will possibley lead to rot. Has it possibly been exposed to CCA treated wood? i.e. drips from overhead CCA treated timber beams, leaves touching a CCA treated wood product or perhaps a mulch of wood shavings or chips from CCA treated wood. Is it or has it been in contact with any other copper products (copper is very bad for broms) Have you sprayed it with a fungicide containing copper? If so it will have a similar effect, unless the copper component of the spray is very low. Has it been over fertilized? Sometimes this can manifest itself with leaf dieback. I can't think of anything else at the moment but these are all things to consider, but it would be easier for the experts on this site to help if you posted a picture of the plant in question. All the best, Nev.

There is a Bromeliad Forum where you might get more responses. Here is a link that might be useful: Bromeliad Forum

hi,they have no direct frost tolerance as such,but can take temps into the 30s easily. i have many here in CA,all do fine,but if you think you will get a frost/freeze,just cover them with a sheet of plastic,or a cloth. gary