Australian and New Zealand Gardening: Bromeliads For May 2014, 3 by splinter1804

splinter1804 wrote:
Hi Teresa and anyone else that may be looking in.

Teresa - Good luck with the job hunting - An old bloke I once knew said jobs were like trains, there's always another one coming, but I know it gets bloody frustrating while you're waiting for it to arrive.

We've had a rough few days here with our "dog sitting"; No one told us she (Honey) was a cross between an American Staffie and a bloody horse, and so strong too. Apparently from what I can make out she didn't get very much attention where she lived before; she was fed OK and had somewhere dry to sleep, but what she lacked was affection and now when she's shown a little, she just gets very excited and wants to jump up and lick us. Being of such a strong, solid build, this is a bit of a worry with us as we're both "oldies" and not as strong as we once were and easily knocked over. However I think with a little quiet persuasion she'll quieten down in a few more days.

The good news is that her owner (who has just had a stroke) was fully assessed by the team in the Stroke Unit yesterday and they are confident he will get back to 100% again.... (and then he can have his bloody dog back). Anyway, she seems to have settled down a lot just in the last two days since we got her and the good news is that she doesn't eat bromeliads.

She's never been allowed in the house before and it's all new to her but she is very intelligent and does seem to be a quick learner and although we bought he a dog mattress, she soon found it more comfy to sleep on the lounge.

I'll finish today with a couple of Jack Koning examples of what you can get when you self pollinate a plant with potential. Pic.1 is the plant and it's Vriesea 'Mt. Townsend' which is from a cross of Vr. 'The Daintree' x Vr, 'Milky Way'. Two of the nicer seedlings from this selfing (Vr. 'Mt Townsend' F2) are shown in Pic's 2 and 3. Pic.4 I know isn't a brom., it's just Honey in her preferred bed.

All the best, Nev.