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Products > Plants - Browse By Region > Puya 'Ed Hummell'
 
Puya 'Ed Hummell' - Silver Puya
   
Image of Puya 'Ed Hummell'
[2nd Image]
Habit and Cultural Information
Category: Succulent
Family: Bromeliaceae (Bromeliads)
Origin: Chile (South America)
Evergreen: Yes
Flower Color: Purple
Bloomtime: Summer
Parentage: (P. coerulea x P. laxa)
Height: 3-5 feet
Width: Spreading
Exposure: Full Sun
Deer Tolerant: Yes
Irrigation (H2O Info): Low Water Needs
Winter Hardiness: 15-20° F
Puya 'Ed Hummell' - A silver terrestrial bromeliad to 3-4 feet tall, branching low with upright stems holding leaves along the stems topped with 1-foot-wide open rosettes of green leaves completely covered in floccose silver hairs and with small sharp brown teeth along the leaf margins. In summer appear 6- to 8-foot-tall wand-like inflorescences bearing dark purple, nearly black, flowers emerging from red hairy calyces - more interesting than really showy.

Plant in full sun in a well-drained soil and irrigate occasionally to very infrequently. This plant has proven to be fairly hardy, growing in one of the coldest locations in Santa Barbara (called "Frog Hollow") where it weathered temperatures near 20° F during the January 2007 freeze. It is a very attractive addition to the garden that is similar but more narrowly upright than Puya coerulea var. coerulea, looking a bit like a giant Puya laxa.

This plant was growing in the Santa Barbara garden of our good friend Jim Prine (1920-2010), a professional animal trainer and plant lover. He had received the plant from Bromeliad specialist Dutch Vandervort who told us the plant was a hybrid between Puya coerulea and Puya laxa that he believe was created by the legendary succulent plant breeder Ed (Emerald) Hummel (1903-1979). We have been building stock on this very attractive plant over the years and were finally able to release it in 2016. To our knowledge this plant has never had a cultivar name assigned to it so we felt it fitting to honor Ed Hummell, the man who reportedly created this plant as well as so many other interesting succulent hybrids. We also grow the parent plants, Puya coerulea and Puya laxa

This information about Puya 'Ed Hummell' displayed is based on research conducted in our horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also will relate observations made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments that we receive from others and we welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share any cultural information that would aid others in growing it.

 
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