Linda, those Aechmea blanchetianas would cost a bundle to buy. I was just quoted 60 bucks for one but then a fellow FB user traded me two pups for two Bromelia balansae 'Variegata'. These balansae were growing in my shade garden and had long roots under the ground with four plants interconnected. So we each got two. These babies are like razor toothed wires and are used in the tropics as natural fences to keep animals on someone's property. I put mine in out of the way places but in the sun so they can bloom. I've never seen them bloom where they were. Here's a pic of Bromelia balansae 'Variegata'.
