Australian and New Zealand Gardening: SPRING AMONG OUR BROMELIADS..., 4 by splinter1804

splinter1804 wrote:
Hi Everyone - Wow! Look at all of the reading to do today, you all have been very busy, "goodonya". I started this post on the 22nd and what with a few family things and other problems, plus my day at the Light Rail Museum it's now the 23rd and I still don't look like finishing, so if I miss answering anyone I apologise but I'm running out of time again.

Breeindy - Good to see you back posting pic's again. These two are hybrids from Margaret and Bill Patterson's stable and from memory I think there were about forty in the "Gympie" grex, and unless you have Margaret and Bill's book, to look at them all you need to go to: http://registry.bsi.org/index.php?genus=NEOREGELIA&id=4758#4...

Cody - We have a "Fire Scale" here which tells us the level of fire danger from Low/Moderate, High, Very High, Severe, Extreme and the highest of all, Catastropic. It's during these times of High and the higher ratings, we too have fire bans imposed. During a Total Fire Ban no fire may be lit in the open and all Fire permits are suspended. This includes incinerators and barbecues which burn solid fuel, e.g. wood or charcoal.

Jean – Good to hear you’re getting a bit of rain with the warmer weather. That’ll make the brom’s grow, I’ll bet you can see them smiling already.

In regards to your Vrieseas, you’ll find that Vr. Barbara is a nice easy to grow plant as well, and has a vivid red paddle with yellow flowers

Your mention of Neo. Medallion jogged my memory as that was one of the plants I was chasing some time ago without any luck. It is said to be a c.v. of Neo. Carolinae but has a very strange growth habit, just grows up and up and instead of flowers is said to produce a very colourful rosette instead. A friend who has it says it has never formed a pup since he bought it six years ago and the other strange thing he’s found is that it has never developed roots either, it just seems to grow up and up on the same stalk. This is probably why it’s so hard to find.

I like your Bill. 'Special Grace' seedling; there's some really nice seedlings getting around at present. I remember for years in Australia it seemed to be the same old Bill's which were a bit uninteresting until Bill. 'Hallelujah' came along. That seemed to start a trend with a great improvement in the colours and it seems to be still picking up momentum.

Trish – I’m pleased to hear your Mum’s “bits and pieces” arrived safely and now she’ll have something to well and truly occupy her time.

The towns around the areas where the worst of the fires are certainly aren’t good places to be just now. I saw on the news last night that one place where the usual air quality reading is 50, at present is 2000………not very good to be breathing that air.

Yes Trish, we always miss members when they're not here, especially the regular ones who contribute regularly like yourself.

Trish, like Ian says, the paperbark trees wouldn't be suitable as the bark would have peeled off before the seedlings even got a proper hold. Even established plants won't do much good on paper barks unless you cut a piece of the bark right out and mount them so they are actually touching the timber of the trunk. The tree I mentioned was a Bottle Brush tree and they have quite deep ripples in the bark so plants can have something good to grip onto. As a general rule, any tree that sheds it's bark isn't suitable to mount brom's on.

I can see the colour in your plants improving every time you post pic's; what's the name of the large plant in pic's 3,4 and 5?

Ian - You say you feel tired all the time; do you think it could be your body trying to tell you to slow down a bit, after all from what we read, you seem to be "on the go" all the time.Maybe it's time take it a bit easier and to sit back for a bit and smell the flowers and listen to the birds singing.

In your first lot of pic's I like the Neo. 'Lavender Blue' do you have any other info on it? I've tried to look it up but I cant find it listed anywhere.

Gee I can imagine how you felt when you were greeted with the scene in pic.1 of the second lot of pictures, I really feel for you mate. No one wants to cull plants in that manner.

I don't think your NOID is an orthophytum and judging by the way the leaves recurve, I doubt if it's Neo. eleutheropetala either but I wouldn't be surprised if it's a Neo.'Pink Spider' (I think a hybrid from eleutheropetala) just starting to colour or even a hybrid from it; as you say, best wait till it flowers and then find out for sure.

As for the Neo. 'Blueberry Tiger', I didn't know Shane Zaghini did that cross by that name as well as Lisa Vinzant. She made one of those as well and hers is the one on the BCR along with some beautiful others in the Blueberry series especially my favourite 'Blueberry Smoothie' - See: http://registry.bsi.org/?genus=NEOREGELIA&id=3256#3256

Shirley - All you need to lower your plants are some bit's of straight wire with a hook on each end. Old wire coat hangers are great for this, they are strong and you can probably even find some in a dark wardrobe as I suspect they breed in there. Even sometimes available at the re-cycling area at the local tips.

Beautiful colours in your pic's again Shirley, I think the Neo. 'Tossed Salad' gets my vote though. As for your NOID flowering early, sometimes they do this if they are taken from the mother plant too early also.

Wendy - You have Medallion do you? After all the time I've spent down here looking for it I never thought to ask on this forum if anyone had it, I should have know you would have one stashed away somewhere in your collection. Anyway, after Jean and anyone else who has their name down for one, could you please add my name to the list also? I've been waiting all this time so a bit longer won't matter. By the way, I'll send you and Trish a parcel as soon as the weather stabilizes a bit down here. I've just remembered I promised to get you some Bill Rosea seedlings once and it was yesterday I see that one of them is flowering, I didn't think it had been so long. If you haven't already got it I could still send you one of those also.

What you say about new computer problems is correct, why they don't just update the relevent parts of the computer programmes instead of completely redesigning the whole thing is beyond me. Like cars I suppose, get a good model and then redesign it and more often than not bring out a new model and have to start all over again ironing out the bugs in it. I suppose it gets down to one thing, the almighty dollar; why sell an update package when they can sell you a whole new computer.

I'm pleased your sale went well; it seems like you and Johnny should have been nurserymen (and women) in your previous jobs as you certainly seem to have the skills required for managing such a venture.

That's really a brilliantly coloured Neo. fireball x Medallion in your pic's and the Medallion is nice too. The pic of the two Don Hobbs plants looks just like the example Nigel Thompson uses when he's demonstrating well fed and under fed plants.

I think my favourite of the lot is your Neo. Concentrica seedling, it's a "ripper" and certainly worth naming in my opinion .....Chalk up another success for Neo. Concentrica as a parent.

Theresa - That's good advice you've offered Ian, another possibility that could cause similar problems is the interaction between different medications if he is taking any. I'm sure someone with Ian's improvisation skills can come up with a suitable solution to his greenhouse problem.

Sorry if I've missed anyone but I've run out of time, but just let me say what a pleasure it is to see you all posting again, just like old times; we just need Jen, Tash, Sue and Colleen and we're almost back to what we once were.

I'm afraid I have to finish off with some old garden file pic's once again.

All the best, Nev.

P.S. Does anyone have a pup of Neo. 'Kay Jay' they want to swap?