Puya berteroana or Turquoise Puya is a terrestrial Bromeliad from the mountains of Chile. It forms a rosette of silvery-green leaves about 3-4 feet tall and wide. Over the years, it forms a large colony of pups. The leaves are spiny, but the flower stalks themselves are soft, and the blossoms are silky-smooth. Birds like to sit on the outward-pointing tips and drink the nectar out of the blooms.
I have always wanted to grow this divine Gallica rose (bred c.1840). The extraordinary Old World colours of the blooms are magical to say the least. Every kind of purple coloured bruise you can think of is evident in the blooms. At all stages the flowers are so charming but I have to say I adore the unusual and individual forms and colour variations in the fully reflexed rose, and indeed also in the dying flower which reveals the delicious contrast of purple and white against big rounded leaves, those hues always a fabulous combination in the garden, in fashion, design and art. Since this is a sprawling, arching rose, I think it would be beautiful as a pillar rose, fence climber or obelisk tower. It needs lots of space if it is to grow free. It is one of the great flowers of the past that has come down to the 21st century for us to gaze upon.
Though they will grow outside in Britain this Beesia calthifolia was in the shelter of the Cambridge Botanic Garden alpine glasshouse. It comes from mountainous forests in China, having glossy green leaves and upright spikes of starry white flowers followed by these sculptural seed pods. This plant thrives in semi-shaded moist, well drained soil.
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