What a Bargain! Bromeliad Vriesea

We went to Alabama City today and stopped at the Big Box store that is the same as our local Big Box garden center except that sometimes it has something wonderful that I've not seen at home.

I found this Vriesea splendens Red.

Oh, Snap, you say. It bloomed already. It will die. It's a pitiful specimen.

Turned around this way you see the Pups! Two of them.

... and it was only 2 dollars.

... marked down from $7.98.

Now I have to decide whether to immediately remove the pups on the chance that more pups may grow before the mother plant dies, or let them grow on. Maybe I'll just repot in a bit larger container and let the group stay together through the winter to conserve space.

I went in there hoping for a Strelitzia. They had everything but a bird. I even saw Heliotrope. Crotons and Mums were everywhere. Besides the Bromeliad, I bought some Azalea Pots and two switches for lamps that needed repair. 

I saw some pots that might be perfect for the Bromeliad tree I'm planning. This new plant will want more shade than Neoregelias and Tillandisias, so it won't join that party. 

The little pot was outgrown by another Bromeliad, 2 years ago.

We had 2.6 inches of rain last night. 

Plant Babies

Back in March I wrote in Seedscatterer blog that my Cycad Had Seeds. At the time I planted the seeds, I wrote, "In the article I read, it said that the growing embryo will push a root out the star-shaped end of the seed, followed by a leaf. This is not a quick process. I will wait."

 I didn't write or make a pic when I noticed the first little green bit. Now there's a tiny frond.  None of the other seeds have a root or a sprout.

A pup has formed beside this Vriesea, which bloomed almost two years ago. I  had decided it was just going to die without reproducing. Suddenly there's a pup!

Vriesea bromeliad

New plant forming at the base of a Begonia cutting.

These last two are Camellia seedlings.

The seed of this one is atop the soil.

Camellia seedling.

For me, it's all about new plants from old, whether by seeds, cuttings or divisions. The joy is in the growing.

Do you find more pleasure in new plants from seeds or bought in a nursery?