Fascicularia bicolor - Firewheel

I’ve had this plant for many years and it is another of those plants that ‘grow on you’.
It’s a member of the bromeliad family and hails from Chile. There is conflicting advice about the hardiness of this plant, some say that it is frost-tender, others that it will take temperatures down to –10. Mine has survived all weathers over the past 10 years without any problem at all. In fact, I do nothing at all to look after it, I just ignore it for most of the year.
Fascicularia bicolor has long, thin, strap-like leaves covered in small spines. It gradually makes a clump not unlike a very large hedgehog! The leaves are arranged in a series of funnel-like arrangements and at this time of year the plant makes an astounding display of flowering. The funnels of leaves (not all of them) turn a brilliant crimson red and a blue flower forms at the base of the funnel. The effect of the ‘red funnels’ amongst the green leaves is quite amazing. I’ve read that the Latin word fascicularia means ‘clustered together in bundles’.
My plant grows under a large Olive tree so it is in dappled shade. I never water it or feed it, the only thing I do is to remove fallen leaves that become trapped within its spiny leaves (a painful process!). It associates well with other tropical / exotic plants and makes interesting ground-cover.
The photo below was taken a few days ago (28 August):