Australian and New Zealand Gardening: BROMELIADS FOR MARCH ....2014, 4 by bromishy

bromishy wrote:
Hi Everyone!

It rained heaps last night which was great as well as most of today up until about 1pm then the sun came out; hopefully we get some more tonight? Everything outside is understandably benefiting from a good fresh drink of water instead of the usual town water they receive so sure to see a growth spurt in everything other than just the grass.

Hi Ian pleased to hear your Townsville trip went well and that you made some great brom contacts along the way, sounds like the long trip was well worth it. What a shame I did not check my D-Mail from you earlier over the weekend so we could have caught up on Sunday, anyway hopefully you have more time up your sleeve next time and we can catch-up and meet which would be great. Rob Smythe is definitely well worth a visit as he has an amazingly beautiful bromeliad collection and Joe and I always thoroughly enjoy catching up with Rob and Gwen when we get the opportunity; we have not done so though in a good six or so months so are well and truly due for a visit. Rob and Gwen are absolutely lovely people and we think the world of them and it is always so enjoyable to kick back and chat with them about life in general and bromeliads of course too. The colours of the collection of bromeliads in their garden always takes my breath away because they are so stunning and I really like how they have them growing on everything like a 3D garden that I find so amazing and something that would have taken years of dedication and hard work to achieve something so beautiful and magical.

Ian I did not get the opportunity to see those expensive broms on EBay but when looking at Pic 1 you kindly posted of one of them, I can’t believe it was priced at that to begin with as it does nothing for me at all, plus imagine how many broms you could buy with that amount of money hey. Always worth watching though just to see what some broms go for out of curiosity.

Ian great brom pics from 24/3, I especially liked your Pic 3 Crypthansus ‘Ruby’ which has great shape and colour.

Hi Nev sounds like you got slammed with a severe storm / rain, pleased to hear though that none of your broms got damaged during the heavy weather.

Nev thanks for your feedback about grasshoppers with the use of brom culls to keep the grasshoppers away from your friends bromeliad collection. I think my only alternative is to try the natural chemical you recommended the other day and we will go from there as most of my bromeliad collection is outdoors exposed to everything that lives out there, so we will have to see how that goes as I am yet to place an order for the product; in the interim I am just on the lookout for them all the time and catch them when I can which is mainly on the weekends giving them the opportunity to chew freely during the week. Lucky for me (touch wood) they are only attacking mother brom for now from the top and not targeting any of the pups attached which is good but I think that’s because I have hardly any space between my broms, just enough to let the air flow freely and no more than that.

Nev pleased to hear you liked the look of the brom I have in my collection called Neo. ‘Jinx’ and thanks very much for the feedback on this brom. I will have to check my records and see who I purchased it from as they may be able to shed some more light on the history of the plant? ‘Jinx’ is about 50cm in diameter. I can see some similarities to that of the pic on the BCR which is the splotch markings although mine are of a deep pink where on the BCR as you say they appear darker maroon; they both also do have the same shape and width of leaf; it will be good to take progress pics of mine and post them here for comparison as it is just coming into flower for the first time this year as is starting to flush some colour on its centre leaves, I currently have it growing in full sun but under 70% shade cloth which has naturally greatly contributed to its green/lime overall colour that really catches my attention whenever I walk past the plant. Nev I am more than happy to put your name down for a pup when I get one spare.

Nev what a great selection of Billgeria’s you posted pics of on 24/03. Nev I have been meaning to ask you if you have any Bills’ you would be willing to sell (I hope I do not offend you asking) as I was looking at buying some on EBay because they are not something we find readily for sale at our local market. The only Bill I have in my collection I think is Bill. ‘Hallelujah’ which I adore and it grows very well here and I would like to collect more of these beautiful plants as I really adore all their different colours and markings and the way the light transforms them into like beautiful lanterns during different times of the day.

Hi Teresa so sorry to hear you have been made redundant, I hope that everything works out for you in the long run; just keep your chin up and I am sure good things will come to you; get some good rest while you can before your next job as this will do you the world of good while you job hunt.

Hi Wendy those bike tyre trellis’s look fantastic, what a great idea for the veggie patch; though now I would need to get rid of some of my broms to have a proper veggie patch at that’s not going to happen anytime soon but a mini veggie patch would be nice.

Attached are pics of my new broms:

Pic 1 & 2 – Vriesea ‘Pink Princess’ – Alan Pythian hybrid (not as yet registered) – how pretty is that soft pink.

Pic 3 & 4 – Vriesea ‘Dads Favorite’ – We adored this one so much we decided to get one more so we could grow one outside and grow one under full protection and see what they colour up like.

Take Care and Happy Gardening!

Trish