It's a Bromeliad Festival!

Last weekend, I spent the morning at our local university's Botanical Festival. I'm happy to report that bromeliads (including Tillies!), smelly plants, succulents, and gorgeous tropical flowers were abundant and reasonably priced. I was admirably restrained; I bought a patchouli plant, some rue, three Tillies, and a tree frog (that hitched a ride on the patchouli- I set him free when I discovered him).  I had fun taking pictures of the gorgeous blooming bromeliads. Here's a Guzmania:

And here's a gorgeous "Mystery Bromeliad". No one knew what this was; the nursery manager actually just called it "The Microphone Plant". I'm thinking it could be a Pseudoananas?? At any rate, it sold very quickly, and I wonder if the new owner knows these plants only bloom once?

The Tillandsia xerographicas went very fast. I already have one, but I did find a T. seleriana! (The weird plant they used in the movie "Avatar".) I'll post separately on that one, it's a lovely find.

T. xerographica, lower center, T. seleriana, lower right.

It was hard not to return home with a carful of new plants, and I'm patting myself on the back for my restraint!