Australian and New Zealand Gardening: Bromeliads for novices & addicts, October 2012, 2 by weed_woman

weed_woman wrote:
Hello, I am a bit late today, as i had no pics to add this morning, so I thought I would leave it until I do.
I have been watching some Vrieseas on Ebay, and was stunned to see the prices they went for. V. "Maroochy Smooch' which looked like a pink V. heiroglyphica, went for $925! Who has that kind of money for one plant? Another was V. 'Ruby Blush' which sold for $600, and then V. 'Cracker Jack' went for $170, which sounded like a bargain to me. Sheesh, I don't think I will be buying any of those hybrids for some time yet.
Ian, I had to look so hard for your thief! It was like 'Wheres Wally' I thought I might have been looking for a Bower Bird, but finally spotted the magpie. I have noisy minors that steal from the brom house, blue faced honey eaters that steal from the hanging baskets on the house, and magpies steal from the hanging plants in the trees. Theres no hope!
Shirley, I meant to tell you I have looked at the variegated nudicaulis and there are three pups, not looking fantastic, but ok. Can you Dmail me your mailing address. We've had a little bit of rain too. not enough to really soak the ground, but hopefully it put a bit in the tank. Lets keep our fingers crossed for a bit more. I am glad you are having a go at seed raising and having some success. Its not too hard, just very slow.
Trish, I had to laugh. I hear the same thing from my friends too, about how every where they look there is a brom! You are right, it doesn't take long before they, too, want to have them in their gardens. Even Non gardeners get into them. I usually start them off with an Alcantarea to put in the garden. They really don't need any care at all.
Wendy, like you, i had trouble with the trays drying out, but I put the chinese food container lids underneath, and they catch a bit of water which keeps the tray moist till the next watering. Also, with the fungus gnats, I sprayed a tray that has them, with a bit of that aerosol Rogor to see what effect it has. Hopefully it won't kill the seedlings. They aren't anything special, but I don't like to hurt them!
Today I worked on Leisas memory garden. I removed a couple of pups of special thing, then replanted the broms, minus the pots. (i am always running out) i also added fresh bark and soil and watered in with a bit of thrive afterwards. hopefully that will see them through summer. I only got through a very small section, so it will be an ongoing job, but its a good way to familiarise myself with her plants, as alot of them I haven't seen before. I have potted a few to put in my brom house, and added a few from my brom house to her garden.
Anyway, I will take photos of any nice things i come across for you all.
Now, if the photos dont get mixed up....first one will be A.nudicaulis on the tree fern
Second photo is the brom tree (dracaena)
third photo should be the clump of Billbergia 'Hallelujah' that turns everyone on
the forth photo is a clump of Neo. 'Lila'
The last photo should be Tillandsia usenoides (spanish moss) in flower
lets see how it goes.
Sue