Plant-A-Day 2020 (Day 165) Billibergia nutans

I don’t remember where my first Queen’s Tears plant came from originally. I would guess I’ve had it for about seven or eight years. I’ve divided it into three pots and pretty much neglect them all and these sturdy plants don’t care. They keep growing and blooming every spring.

These plants aren’t particularly attractive and the flowers are more interesting than they are showy or beautiful, but their simplicity earns them a place in the greenhouse. The only other bromeliads I have are the air plants (mostly tillandsias) that grow on a branch in the greenhouse.

You can see my 2020 plans for these plants are a bit ruthless. I cut two of the pots almost completely down to the ground, as they looked pretty rough. My hope is that they’ll pop back up all fresh and green and I’ll do a better job of moving them out in the spring for their flower “show.”