Bromeliads

Bromeliads...

... are the best thing since sliced bread. If you live in a climate where they can be used as landscape plants then by all means do so!

Bromeliads have many attributes

Roots are teeny- no need to dig a hole and fight the rocky soil- just wedge them in!
They multiply like rabbits- you can fill in an area in no time
Sun or shade or in between you have a thousand choices
Easy to move or change out- again no digging- you just pull them up!
Low feeding requirements- many species do best when not fed at all!
The old and dead pull right out
Did I mention that they virtually eliminate digging?

This was the mother plant of all my 48" Neoregelia spectabilis. Since purchasing this one plant for maybe $10 I have given away dozens, and still have tons for myself. This particular plant grows wide and flat in sun and more upright vase shaped in shade- but equally well in either.

We bordered our front yard with many of these as seen below-

I needed a row of "something" to keep my mulch from washing out during our South Florida downpours and chose this plant on lots of coral rock. As mentioned above I didn't even dig a hole for them- just interspersed them around and they latched right on. The summer of all the hurricanes (2004) followed the installation and I was awfully afraid that I would lose some in the winds, but they all held right on. This is why I love Bromies so much!