PLANT OF THE WEEK

HEPTACODIUM MICONIOIDES (SEVEN-SON FLOWER)

Plants in the bromeliad family are also quite easy to manage. The most famous member is the pineapple, which is mainly grown for its delicious fruit. However, there are also ornamental pineapple plants which have much smaller fruit, for example Ananas ‘Pacifico,’ and they look very cute.

Guzmania, vriesea and the urn plant Aechmea all belong to this family as well. What they have in common are exoticlooking central rosette flowers in bright neons, pink, purple, red or yellow.

Water by placing a couple of inches of water in the rosette – its urn shape will hold the liquid – and only sparingly water the soil. Replace the water in the urn every couple of weeks as it can turn mouldy.

Bromeliads are monocarpic – this means once they have finished flowering, their life cycle is complete and they will die. They do produce baby offsets which can be replanted and these in turn will flower in a couple of years.

But when they are in flower, the flower spike can last a couple of months which makes them good value and a cheerful blast of colour on wintry days.

ONCE quite rare, this deciduous shrub is gaining in popularity and becoming more available across the UK.

The plant belongs to the honeysuckle family and the flowers are small, white and fragrant.

What makes it unusual is that they don’t appear until

September or so, and last right through to November or first frosts. Their late arrival makes them popular with bees and butterflies. When the flowers fall, pink bracts remain on the tree, and as the handsome looking leaves fall, the focus turns to the attractive bark.