Andy Siekkinen first started collecting bromeliads after moving to San Diego in 2007 and a coworker gave him a Neoregelia marmorata. He first looked up what a Neoregelia was, then a few months later joined the San Diego Bromeliad Society, and now…well let’s just say things escalated! Drawn to the oddballs and things ignored by most bromeliad collectors, the genus Hechtia became a bit of an obsession. With lots of fieldwork and adding a degree in botany he has described over a dozen new species and discovered many, many more that are still being studied. Beyond Hechtia, he loves other oddballs and unusual genera: Hohenbergia, Deuterocohnia, Othophytum, Ursulaea, Canistrum, etc. But of course, he also can’t turn down a great Neoregelia, Billbergia, Aechmea, or Tillandsia!
After collecting and growing bromeliads for a couple of years, he started selling extra pups at the local society sale. That helped buy more, giving him more to sell. Repeat that over and over again and here we are. Once he had an interesting selection of plants, he couldn’t resist spreading some pollen around and growing some of his own hybrids. Hechtia were naturally first, but he has also been focusing on Billbergia, Dueterocohnia, and a little bit on Orthophytum. Today the collection is quite large and diverse, filled with plants that thrive in the San Diego climate ~12 miles in from the coast. San Diego has a Mediterranean climate with rainfall coming during relatively mild winters and warm, dry summers.
The nursery is still a side project while working full time…unfortunately! So, between work and a little bit of travel, orders may not be shipped the next day.