A striking member of the Bromelioideae family, the urn plant, Aechmea zebrina ‘Surprise’, is an exotic, stately plant with beautiful, spiky, bright orange flowers held upright above rosettes of wide, thick, strappy gray-green leaves with dark stripes on the underside and backward-curving spines along the edges. The stunning flowers can last for months, making this one of the most popular bromeliads for the home. It should be planted in fast-draining potting soil with its central cup filled with fresh water, where it will thrive in indirect to moderate light in temperatures above 55 degrees Fahrenheit. Native to Mexico through South America, bromeliads are epiphytic (growing on trees) plants whose name comes from the Greek Aichme (spear). They are technically air plants that use their roots for support.