Pam Koide Hyatt
Pamela Koide Hyatt, has been exploring and growing Bromeliads, with an emphasis on Tillandsias for more than half her life. Since starting Bird Rock Tropicals in 1981, Pamela has traveled extensively throughout Mexico, Central and South America in search of tillandsias. During these travels she has discovered more than a dozen species new to
science as well as many more natural hybrids. Experiencing plants in habitat and growing for more than 44 years gives her a unique insight into this amazing genus.
Pamela soon began growing from seed and hybridizing tillandsias. It can take up to two years for the seed to be ready to harvest, and growing the plants to maturity
can take anywhere from three to twenty years. Of the more than 3000 hybrids that were made, many have bloomed for the first time over the past few years.
One of these hybrids, Tillandsia Samantha, was nominated for 'Plant of the Year' at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in 2012, and in 2013, Tillandsia Samantha won the 'Glass Tulip Award' in the category of houseplants. The Glass Tulip Award is one of the most prestigious awards in Horticulture awarded by FloraHolland.
Additionally, Pamela is an International Bromeliad Judge and has served as President and newsletter editors of both the San Diego Bromeliad Society and the North County
Bromeliad Society. She has served as a Director of the Bromeliad Society International (BSI), and Publications Chairman for the BSI, and currently, on the Scientific Review Panel for the Journal of the Bromeliad Society (BSI). She recently completed nine years as a Trustee at the San Diego Botanic Garden.
In 1992 she contributed to the revision of the BSI Cultural Manual. Pamela revised and compiled the second edition (1998), and the third edition (2022) of A Bromeliad Glossary, published by the Bromeliad Society International. Pamela has been a keynote speaker at the Australasian Biennial Conference in 1998, 2003 (in New Zealand), 2007 and 2015. She has presented at the Japanese Bromeliad Society in Tokyo, 2001 and HortPark in Singapore 2015, the BSI World Bromeliad Conference in Hawaii in 2014, Houston 2016, San Diego 2018, and numerous local societies and plant clubs in the United States. Most recently, in September of 2024 she was a presenter at the 41st Annual Succulent Plants Symposium at The Huntington.
Pamela has consulted on a several different botanical projects. These include consulting not only at private gardens, but Botanical Gardens in Thailand, Singapore, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles and San Diego, as well as hotel installations at the Mirage, Bellagio and MGM in Las Vegas. This year she consulted on the installation of epiphytes to be included in the restoration of the Balboa Park Botanical Building in San Diego.
In 2014 Pamela published Air Plant Tilli-Cards™, a set of 100 reference cards for species and hybrid tillandsias. In 2015, Pamela created and developed the first Application for IOS smart phones related to Tillandsias. The app, Air Plant Tilli-Cards™, is a reference guide to the identification, cultivation and growing of Tillandsia air plants. The app can be easily updated to include most species and many common hybrids.
In 2017, Pamela began collaborating with Jeff Chemnick, owner of Mexico Nature Tours, to co-lead Ecotours in Oaxaca and Chiapas Mexico to see Bromeliads, especially
Tillandsia in habitat. Pamela is currently part of a group working on a book – “Field Guide to Plants of Oaxaca”.