🌿 Great Plants and Experiences from Southern California
🌎 Famous gardens, unforgettable nurseries, spectacular bromeliads, and unexpected discoveries — come see the highlights from a remarkable Southern California plant adventure!
Southern California is home to some of the most famous bromeliad nurseries, botanical gardens, collections, and growers in the hobby today. From award-winning show plants and artistic displays to world-class gardens and rare plant auctions, this trip offered a remarkable look at the creativity, diversity, and inspiration that make bromeliads such a fascinating group of plants.
At our July meeting, Mike O’Neal will share highlights from his trip to Southern California and the 2026 World Bromeliad Conference in Costa Mesa, California. A dozen members from the Houston Society attended the conference along with tours and visits to some of the most famous bromeliad destinations in the region, including Bird Rock Tropicals, Rainforest Tropicals, and The Huntington.
Through photos, stories, and observations from the trip, attendees will experience award-winning bromeliads, spectacular artistic displays, rare plants, memorable gardens, famous nurseries, interesting speakers, and even a few unexpected discoveries along the way. Whether you are interested in bromeliads, botanical gardens, unusual plants, travel destinations, or simply seeing some of the most inspiring places and displays in the hobby today, this program promises something memorable for every plant enthusiast.
🌟 What You’ll Learn
• Highlights from the 2026 World Bromeliad Conference
• What makes Bird Rock Tropicals, Rainforest Tropicals, and The Huntington such important destinations for bromeliad enthusiasts
• Examples of award-winning bromeliads, artistic displays, and rare auction plants
• Interesting ideas from conference presentations on evolution, hybridizing, provenance, conservation, and plants in habitat
• Inspiration and ideas that can influence your own growing, collecting, and display techniques
• Places, plants, and experiences worth considering on a future Southern California plant trip
📅 Meeting Date
Tuesday, July 21, 2026
🕖 Time
Social Time: 6:30 PM
Meeting & Program: 7:00 PM
📍 Location
Metropolitan Multi-Service Center
1475 West Gray Street
Houston, TX 77019
🎟 Raffle
The raffle is one of our favorite meeting traditions! Members are encouraged to bring bromeliads, offsets, divisions, or other plant-related items to donate. Your contributions help make the raffle more exciting while giving fellow members the opportunity to take home something new for their collections.
🌿 Show & Tell
Bring an interesting bromeliad from your collection and share it with the group. Whether it’s a show-stopper, a recent acquisition, an unusual species, something currently in bloom, or a plant with an interesting story, we’d love to hear about it. Show & Tell is a great opportunity to celebrate successes, learn from each other, and exchange growing tips with fellow members.
🍪 Refreshments
Members whose last names begin with A–M are asked to bring refreshments to share with attendees. Thank you for helping make our meetings welcoming and enjoyable for everyone.
🤝 Social Time
Catch up with old friends, meet new growers, exchange tips, and talk bromeliads before and after the meeting.
Whether you attended the conference yourself, are thinking about a future Southern California plant trip, or simply want to see some of the most beautiful and inspiring plants, gardens, displays, and discoveries in the bromeliad world today, you’ll leave with new ideas, inspiration, and plenty of memorable images from an unforgettable week in Southern California.
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