Australian and New Zealand Gardening: BROMELIADS IN SUMMER ..2014, 3 by splinter1804

splinter1804 wrote:
Hi everyone – You beaut! Today’s the day I get the pins out of my finger and to top it off, it’s a beautiful sunny day. Here’s hoping I’ll be re-potting brom’s again tomorrow.

Brian – Speaking of dogs, my daughter has a super friendly female American Staffie and she’s constantly wagging her tail; when wearing shorts it pays to stay well clear as when her tail whips your legs it really stings.

I have to agree with you about Christmas time; I’m sure most of us go well and truly overboard with the meal. I went to a Christmas lunch at a friend’s yesterday and there was literally wall to wall food and elaborate decorations on the table, all very nice but somehow it seemed a bit unnatural. I personally think it would have been better with less food and more in keeping with the way we normally live and can afford.

The Neo in your Pic.5 looks familiar to me but just for the moment I can’t put a name to it, but it definitely looks nothing like the Neo.’Aztec’ that I know as that is a spotted plant similar to Neo.’Gold Fever’.

Brian I imagine I can start back into the gardening as soon as I get the pins out as long as the pin sites are adequately dressed and I wear gloves. The main reasons up until now why I couldn’t wear gloves were firstly due to the splint and now due to the bits of wire still protruding from my finger. If the surgeon says I have to wait any longer before I start gardening again, I think I’ll go nuts!

Your Pic.1 shows determination to get the most from your mother plants. Neo.’Rosy Morn’ is a nice big plant and will grow even bigger when planted directly into the garden; I had one that was almost three feet across. I think the reason they grow larger in the garden is that their roots are free to roam and seek out whatever nutrients they require, unlike when the are confined to a pot and rely on just what we give them.

The areas between the shrubs in picture three I think would be an ideal place to put a few brom’s, but leave them in their pots initially in case you need to move them around.

There’s no reason why you can’t stake plants like you have done in Pic.4, it doesn’t matter how you do it as long the plant is held firmly and prevented from moving and the actual stake isn’t going to impede the growth of any new pup. However the same applies to skewers and even rocks which some people use for support, and as long as you keep an eye on your plants and move these obstacles when necessary, everything should be OK.. I just use three wooden skewers pushed into the mix in close to the plant and spread equally around the plant, and they seem to work OK as well. Your method is much tidier though and doesn’t show the skewers sticking up to spoil the look of the plant which they do while they are in place.

Jean – Your mention of the flower spikes on you Vr. Angela and Vr. Grafton Sunset just reminded me of the one which is on my Vr. ‘Kiwi Sunset’, I had originally planned to remove the spike to induce more pups but with one thing and another during the last month, I forgot all about it and yesterday I saw that it’s hit the top of the shade cloth and is now bending; so as soon as I get the “all clear” to get back into the gardening, “off she comes” as I don’t intend doing any hybridising with it and the flowers are pretty ordinary anyway.

I find the Nidulariums very handy for places which don’t have enough light for other brom’s as they will still grow and flower in these shady areas although they will still grow in areas which are well lit as well, but never in full sun as they will be cooked.

It’s good to see you fitting into your new environment so well and making so many new friends, perhaps if there’s any gardeners among them you could introduce them to our brom site, I’m sure the rest of us would like to meet them also.

Trish - It's good to see you have all the 2014 work behind you now and can put your feet up for a while. It's also good to hear your Mum's on the improve and will soon be back into the garden once again, but please emphasise to her to start off gradually and don't overdo things.

Trish, have you tried putting some of that white bird netting over the Mango Tree to keep off the Flying Foxes? It’s available at Bunnings for under $5 and being white the little birds see it and avoid it.

Please say that Joe got some pictures or a short video of you wrestling with the Scrub Python, gee I’d love to see them. Two days ago a friend of mine was just preparing to weed the border around one of her gardens and she found a python asleep among the weeds. She didn’t wrestle it though she just moved on and weeded another area instead. (See Pic’s 1 and 2)

Teresa – Speaking of bonuses, it seems the bigger the company, the less chance of a Christmas Bonus. When I worked for a small builder, (just two carpenters, (him and me), one apprentice and one labourer), each Christmas he took us down the pub for a counter lunch and a few beers and gave us each an envelope and Christmas card with $50 in it and that was right back in about the late 60’s. As well as being handy for us at that time of the year ($50 was a fair bit then) it also bought him dedication; and all three of us would always try that little bit more to get a job finished on time for him. When I went to the steelworks who at that time employed about 23.000 people, guess how much Christmas Bonus the average worker got then? That’s right “Zilch”; so is it any wonder that people working there never did any more than the absolute bare minimum of work. It's very true that what goes around comes around.

Colleen – Thanks for the Christmas wishes and let me wish the same to you and the boys as well. I hope Santa fills your Christmas stockings with lots of nice brom’s.

Pic’s1 and 2 My friends surprise when she went to weed her garden borders, Pic.3 Neo. concentrica (compact form), Pic. 4 Neo. concentrica x carolina variegata and Pic.5 is Neo.’Enchantment’

All the best, Nev.