Australian and New Zealand Gardening: BROMELIADS FOR NOVICES AND ADDICTS - JULY 2014, 5 by splinter1804

splinter1804 wrote:
Hi everyone - Beautiful sunny winter days here but even though the sun's shining it's still cold, and as soon as the sun goes down it's bloody colder. Can anyone tell me why it's always coldest just before the sun rises in the morning? I was up at 4.00 the other morning as I thought I heard someone in the drive near the cars; by the time I got there the security flood light was on and there wasn't a sole to be seen, so at least the sensor flood light is doing its job. What I did notice though was that it was quite mild when compared with the temperature at 5.30 when even without any wind it was still uncomfortably cold.

Colleen - You say you don't remember why you were going to ring; you like me and have joined the CRAFT CLUB as well. This might jog your memory as you posted it a couple of days ago "Nev if you're looking in I'm ready to put in my order but I would like to have a chat to you so can I give you a ring?. When's the best time?" At this stage I'm still trying to sort out all my medical and other appointments but I'll let you know as soon as it's sorted.

I can't tell you a lot about Karate, except that although it originated in Japan as a weapon in unarmed combat, (Similar to Kung Fu in China) and as well as teaching "how to look after yourself" it also teaches strong personal discipline. When not used in competition, it's now mainly used as a defense and as a weapon as a last resort. A neighbour of ours told me this as he had a son with a violent temper. He would "go off" at the slightest provocation and was constantly being involved in fights with other kids. Someone suggested to his parents that Karate would help him with "self control", and it did as just after a couple of months he became less violent toward others and seemed to lose that "fight first and ask questions later" attitude he always had. He mixed in better with the other kids and his school work improved dramatically, although when pushed enough, the fists still started swinging but to a much lesser rate than previously. So a good outcome eventually. A lot of people think Karate is just about fighting by using the body as a weapon, but it is also a lot to do with self restraint and discipline and there are very strict rules as to when it should only be used as a weapon. We were always taught that if we were bullied by someone bigger; kick them between the legs and run like buggery to get your big brother to sort it out.......How times have changed.

Colleen, I know just what it's like when neighbours don't control their gardens as the family on the northern side of us (although very nice people) don't have any idea at all about gardening whatsoever, in fact they have almost every troublesome plant in Australia growing in their yard (and over my fence) Lantana, Privet, Blackberry, Rhus tree, Lagunaria (Itch tree),Cassia, Araujia sericifera (False choko vine), feral Jasmine, you name it they have it.

To make matters worse they have now moved to Katoomba and the house has been empty for a couple of years and although they have someone regularly cut the grass, no one cuts back the feral plants, so rest assured, it's just not you who have these problems.

Shirley - Regarding encouraging roots on pups by planting them in grass clippings, I think some time ago Wendy mentioned that her son was doing this with great success.

When I recently wrote of my experience I didn't mean to put Colleen or anyone else off from trying it, I just mentioned what had happened to my plants when I tried it.

As we know everyone has different growing conditions and it may also have a lot to do with the type of grass in the clippings which in my case was Kikuyu (Which itself is on the noxious plant list although I keep mine under control) I have noticed over the years whenever I put these clippings in the compost, they always stay wetter for longer than other types of grass clippings and this may have just been my problem.

The igloo is looking better every time I see it. Are your benches in picture 2 made from sections of pool fences? They certainly look very robust. Something a lot of people don't realise is the strength in polystyrene boxes which I see you are using for support of the bench sections and which I have no doubt will easily handle the weight..

If I may make an observation though, I would say you may find a difference in the colour of your plants in the future whereas, before they were sitting on white polystyrene boxes which would have given good light reflection, they will now be on a different surface over a black floor which will cut down significantly on the reflection provided.......Just a thought, not a criticism.

It's also good to see "Hubby" hard at work under the supervision of the "Watch Dog". Does he know he is now famous and that his pic is now out there in cyber space for the world to see?

I really don't know why I even kept that "spotless" Gold Fever seedling as it couldn't have been further from what I had aimed for, but maybe it's worth keeping if only just to show people that things won't always turn out as we predict, and who knows, even the second generation of pups might turn up something different again.

Just a few recent pic's to finish with Pic.1 (My pride and joy) Alc. Silver Plum which I grew from a grass pup just 2" high. Pic.2 Ae. 'Little Green Ruby', Pic.3 Neo.'Pink Star' just starting to colour, Pic.4 Neo. 'Burgundy Princess' (Unreg) and Pic.5 Neo. 'Mandella' x 'Back Onyx' seedling; where did the spots come from?

All the best, Nev.