.

While most of his plants are in open spaces, arranged so as to get a measured amount of light under natural shade, he has built several  shade houses. These are now very  handy  after hurricane Wilma brought down his large mango tree. In one of them where he has several orchids, clumps of small Neos. in baskets and many varieties of bromeliads. He is showing a variegated Guzmania in bloom                                                                                                                                                                                              

 

Tillandsias are also some of his favorite bromeliads. Apart from having them in pots and containers, he has placed them in a tree where they can be seen blooming all around.

He has also been puzzled by the capricious Neo ‘King’s Ransom’ whose descendants are rarely the same as the extraordinary mothers we always fall for. Here, for

instance, on the left, a large plant which bloomed normally started growing a pup in the cup while one of the two original pups seem to be developing the expected inflorescence. In the picture on the right, an additional plant, in the center, shows some coloration but not the characteristic formation and bright red color of the center leaves. The plant on the left in both pictures is a Neo. ‘Victoria” for comparison.