Who has not heard of and wished to have in his collection of bromeliads Goudaea ospinae var. gruberi (H. Luther) W. Till & Barfuss. Yes, that old Vriesea that now belongs to the genus Goudaea with a light green foliage speckled with dark green or reddish lines. The compound inflorescence stands out with a bright yellow contrasting color.

But who was behind the discovery of this precious bromeliad in the forests of Colombia? Franz Georg Gruber, to whom this highly ornamental variety was dedicated. [Editor's note: an article by Peter Tristram detailing his search for wild populations of this plant appeared in Journal of the Bromeliad Society vol. 66, number 2, pages 102-116.]

So, on a trip to Colombia in July 2019, I contacted Dra. Adriana Pico-Colombia Villalobos who kindly invited me to visit Franz Georg Gruber at his bromeliad nursery (originally called "La Bromelia" and now known as "Bromelias de Colombia SAS") in Fusagasuga, about 2 hours by car from Bogota. My friend Carlos Norena, an agronomist with expertise in flowers and crops such as coffee, cocoa and avocado among others, and who wanted to know more about bromeliads accompanied us.

Before arriving at Fusagasuga we could see many bromeliads in the remnant trees left in some pastures, among them Tillandsia fendleri Grisebach with pink inflorescences--past bloom but with growing fruit, great quantities of T. recurvata (L.) L. Less frequently Racinaea spiculosa var. spiculosa could be seen. T. schultzei Harms appeared in the tops of some trees that reached 12 meters in height. At lower levels, T. juncea (Ruiz & Pav.) Poir. with reddish inflorescence and bluish flowers could be seen (Fig. 1).

Upon our arrival in Fusagasuga, Franz picked us up at the entrance of the village and took us to his house, where the nursery and bromeliad collection are located. What a wonderful family we found: Franz and his wife Gloria (Fig. 2), their children Juan and Patricia; all made us feel at home. Such warm welcomes are often encountered when dealing with people who love to work with bromeliads.

Franz was born in Frankfurt, Germany and came to Colombia in 1977. He studied horticulture, working with ornamental species in Germany and France. One day he was presented with the opportunity to grow Cymbidium orchids in Colombia and, without a second thought, boarded an airplane and arrived on March 6, 1977 in Fusagasuga, Colombia to start his new job.

In Colombia, and at the age of 33, he met and married Gloria, with whom he had two children, Patricia and Juan. As time went by, Gloria's love for bromeliads grew stronger and she decided to create a nursery to cultivate them. But the need for capital and the slow growth of the plants led Franz to include bonsais in the initial production. I don't know which of the two crops is slower. Little by little, as the bonsais sold the bromeliads took up more of the available space until the entire nursery was filled completely by this...