A summer dominated by a record number of hurricanes striking Florida and the resulting economic slump had us feeling pretty low. Four storms in all, Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne, three of which had left their mark on Tropiflora. A few days ago while out surveying the damages to greenhouses that had to be repaired before winter; eleven roofs off, four destroyed greenhouses, two with plants still in them that have to be moved soon, I was feeling pretty gloomy. I popped into a greenhouse used by our chief bromeliad breeder Ray Coleman, who was busily selecting and repotting some of his recent Neoregelia hybrids. “Check this out” he said, “look at the variegation in this seedling!” His voice carried the tone of an excited child at Christmas as he pointed out a variegated plant here and a beautifully patterned plant there. He fairly buzzed across the benches like a hummingbird visiting flowers, pausing momentarily then quickly moving on. “This is therapy for me” he often states, being a professional in the insurance world with a business and huge responsibilities of his own. Ray spends two to three days a week at Tropiflora selecting and breeding our vast inventory of beautiful bromeliads. In the past few years he has created hundreds of beautiful and worthy hybrids, which we are now testing and evaluating for eventual propagation. His enthusiasm for his hybridizing work is contagious, and within minutes, I too was feeling the visceral excitement one gets when collecting, or seeing the creation of new life forms through the magic of hybridization.

     Ray Coleman has enjoyed bromeliads as a hobby and a passion for over 30 years. His interest focused on plant breeding early on, with the colorful Neoregelias becoming his favorite. As a younger man he had the good fortune to get to know some of the greats in the world of bromeliad hybridization, including many who have now passed away. “Dr. Morris Dexter gave me my first Yamamoto hybrid” Ray remembers. “I saw one he had at a Florida West Coast Bromeliad Society meeting and he said he’d bring me one. Well, the next meeting I was waiting and Dr. Dexter didn’t show. A month went by and sure enough, he brought me the promised pup, and gave it to me free.                

Dr. Dexter showed me how to remove a pup from Vriesea splendens too. Imagine, that was a rare plant back then.” Of Charles Coolbaugh Ray says, “Charles had some nice plants and made some real nice crosses, but man, you could never get anything from him! Best thing he showed me though was how to grow plants hard for maximum color. He used sheep manure and all kinds of special soil mixes.” One of Ray’s best friends was Ervin Wurthman. “I would go to Ervin’s house two or three times a week,” he recalls with a smile. “Ervin’s wife Velva Dean would fix biscuits for us while Ervin and I talked hybrids and cycads. Man, those were some good times!” Ray even met Mulford Foster and Julian Nally. With his winning and eager personality, each of these men took him into their world of plant breeding, showing him secrets and techniques that he remembers and uses to this day.

   Ray was a quick study and analytical by nature, and time spent with his various mentors was never wasted. By his own account, his real introduction to plant breeding came from Tom Davis. No doubt about it, Tom was addicted to breeding bromeliads.

  “Tom taught me how to transfer pollen,” he says. From there he learned to breed plants selectively, “Tom’s greenhouse was so full of plants that he had to throw something out if he wanted to add something”. His best advice on selective breeding came from Herb Hill, now famous for his outstanding line of spectacular Vrieseas and Guzmanias. “In those days Herb was working on Neoregelias” Ray continues, “He taught me to be selective and to plan my crosses with an anticipated result.” This has surely been Ray’s credo since then, as he has consistently produced a line of high quality hybrids for years.

It was through Tom Davis that Ray and I eventually met. Tom was a good friend of Hazel and Ralph Quilhot who were also good friends of mine, and it was Hazel who introduced us. Ray and I hit it off famously, as at the time, Tropiflora was in infancy but already had a fabulous collection of bromeliad species and hybrids. Ray and I became close friends and our circle of bromeliad collector and breeder friends grew, including Bert Foster and Jim Elmore. I introduced Ray to Chester Skotak over twenty years ago, and Ray still refers to that meeting as the turning point of his plant-breeding career. “Oh man,” he says excitedly, “you had this big house full of Chester’s variegated Neo’s and I was like a kid in a candy store”. Chester was already becoming famous for his innate abilities as a breeder, and his ability to pass on variegation in hybrids. This was the first time it was successfully done with consistency. Ray says, “Chester was not what I expected, he had a reputation as a breeder, but also as being hard to get to know. When I met Chester, he took to me right away and showed me secrets that took him years to learn on his own. He showed me what characteristics to look for to spot variegation transmitters. In fact, he gave me one! I still have descendants of that plant and still use it today.”

Ray has now developed his own notoriety, though he still has great admiration for those that he learned from. He counts among his close friends David Shiigi, R.L. Frasier, Herb Hill, Grant Groves, Chester Skotak and others, all breeders that he visits on a regular basis, sharing professional tips and tricks that make their craft so special. Ray’s reputation has spread overseas through his association with Tropifora, and collectors in many countries seek his hybrids. Recently he has begun to make trips to Brazil to collect new material and to meet with the growing number of bromeliad breeders there. “It’s time to break out of the old carolinae and concentrica dominated mold,” he says, and it’s true. It’s all about what’s new and what’s next in this business. “Our new lines include many species never before used and crosses with more foliage color and new shapes. Chester Skotak shook things up with his ‘Hanibal Lecter’ series of carcharodon ‘Tiger’ crosses, but we’re way beyond that now. We’re using all the new carcharodon varieties and even some undescribed species. We’re using new variegated forms of cruenta and breeding for cold hardiness, sun tolerance and even doing some new miniatures”. When it comes to the hybridization of bromeliads, Ray is a man obsessed.

Ray is a widower, and the father of a teenage daughter. His life forever changed when she was an infant and Ray lost his wife in a tragic car accident. A good man and strong of character, Ray did what he had to do to raise his daughter. Duties of fatherhood and the time restraints of running a business caused him to back off of his bromeliad breeding for a few years. But as time went by Ray eventually found his way back to his beloved plants and picked up where he left off. Through this and other family tragedies, Ray has kept his rosy outlook on 

Ray shows off a giant seedling of Neoregelia ‘Bobby Dazzler’ x johannis ‘DeRolf’ bred for landscape use.

life and his dedication to family, friends and his bromeliads. Whenever I am having a bad day, feeling low or just need cheering up, I know I can visit Ray in his greenhouse and have my spirits lifted. Tropiflora, as well as Linda and I are most grateful for Ray Coleman and value his friendship above all else he does for us. It is always a good day when he is here and we are continually buoyed by his effervescent spirit. We are proud to be part of the work he has done and are excited at the prospect of releasing new selections of his many new and beautiful bromeliad hybrids in the future.

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Aside from his work as breeder, Ray is in charge of many of the choice rare species in Tropiflora’s collection, such as this newly released, remarkable, variegated clone of Nidularium innocentii. Ray stays in close contact with collectors in other countries, ever on the lookout for new and spectacular varieties to add to our program.