Australian and New Zealand Gardening: Bromeliads for Novices and Addicts - July 2013, 5 by bromishy

bromishy wrote:
Hi Everyone!

We managed to go for a walk on the beach with the dogs this morning for a couple of hours and then ended up coming home and went back out again to visit a lady that collects / sells orchids and Joe had a bit of fun buying a few more to add to his ever growing beautiful collection. We were in heaven on the car drive home as the car smelt divine with all the fragrance coming from the Cattalay’s.

It is still very windy today, enough to knock the odd brom pot over here and there. I managed to get a couple of garden beds weeded, one had broms in it with good signs of pups happening which I will look at removing August / September. Tomorrow will be washing windows and then spend the rest of the day with my broms.

Hi Cody pleased to hear your well, I am doing well thanks for asking, still trying to get rid of my chesty cough but other than that I am feeling a lot better. I did have to have a wee nap today because I felt very tired after coming back from our trip shopping for orchids so I listened to my body and snuck a 30min cat nap in and woke up feeling refreshed and ready to get stuck into weeding some of the garden beds.

Hi Bree / Nev the name of the orchid I posted a pic of yesterday is Epidendrum Stameordianum. I absolutely adore the flower on this one which has just finished flowering.

Hi Nev thanks to the insight about seeds wild pollinated, with the seed pods I have collected and their seeds I have sown to date I have just been writing the mothers name which I know crossed with a ? for the father so it will be interesting to see what they grow up to be like. I keep an electronic database of all my broms with pics and also have a hard copy printed which is handy when you go on brom shopping sprees so you don’t buy the same again by accident unless you really want to. The day I look at hybridising something of my own you will be the first to know, for now I am thankful of nature doing it for me and am really looking forward to what the end results will be as I have trayed up quite a few Neorgelia’s now like ‘Charm’, ‘Mr ‘Odean, ‘Hot Gossip’ and a pretty pink NOID that I absolutely luv and was thrilled to bits when I saw it had many plump seed pods. All my Neo seeds have germinated and I laughed at the ‘Mr ‘Odean’ one’s that have recently germinated as I was very liberal with the sprinkling of the seeds and now I have a lawn of them growing in each tray so I will have to look at thinning them out when they get bigger.

Nev thanks for the additional info on Bill. Nutans, I ended up goggling it yesterday and read exactly the same about it also been known as ‘Queen of Tears’ or the ‘Friendship Plant’. I also read that its leaves can be quite sharp if your run you hand along it and that you should also wear gloves when handling its seeds bit it did not go into any further detail about that so I am wondering now if the seeds are sharp too LOL? Nev yes the seedlings are slowly taking over but manageable for now, I naturally will only keep what I can look after but for now it is still early days and I am finding my entire collection very easy to manage even with working a full time job, but mind you I am very dedicated to them and there is not many weekends that I do not spend time looking after them, and I look after them better than I look after myself (including our dogs). Yes Nev that Neo’ ‘'Skotak's Tiger’ definitely stands guard over the other broms in the garden and is a real talking piece when friends come to visit. Nev great pics you posted, loved the one of your garden looking so neat and tidy. My Bill. Hallelujah’s are also flowering and the first time I have ever seen them flower (not that I have had them that long) so I am thrilled to bits about that.

Hi Therese thanks for sharing info on Bill. Nutans; sounds like a tough little brom and like you I absolutely love the delicate pretty flower it produces. When mine is more established I will look at putting some in our trees as I think it will do well there also as well as we have irrigation rigged up to some of our trees so our Vanda Orchids get watered so at least the Bill. will get sprayed when they get sprayed.

Hi Ian great work on that garden bed; looks fantastic. Ian can you please tell me what the brom is in Pic 5 – front far right-hand side, the big aubergine looking one with the pink tips? I think I have something similar looking in my garden but do not have a name for it, I will have to remember to post a pic for you to see.

Take Care and Happy Gardening!

Trish

Pic 1 – Vr’ ‘Snows of Mauna Kea’
Pic 2 – Old pic of broms getting a sprinkle
Pic 3 – Old pic, shot of the Wetlands behind us
Pic 4 – Old pic of Guzmania in the nursery flowering
Pic 5 – Neo’ ‘Catlan’s Leopard’- one of my favourite Neo's