Australian and New Zealand Gardening: OUR BROMELIADS INTO 2015.. , 1 by splinter1804

splinter1804 wrote:
High everyone – Well; talk about weather changes, it’s only 21C here this morning and drizzling rain, not a very pleasant day but the garden loves it.

I spent most of yesterday catching up on paper work for the museum, so not a bit of gardening or re-potting, that was planned for later on today.

I have to see the surgeon again this morning for another post op assessment which hopefully will be the last as I can now almost make a fist with my hand, something I never thought I’d be able to do again.

Teresa – I never thought I’d ever say this, but mowing the grass is one of the things I really miss doing. Unfortunately, as I’ve become less mobile I have to rely on others to do it for me and although the young bloke who does it, leaves the place clean and tidy, it’s not quite as neat as I could have done it myself. I suppose it’s just a job to him and the sooner he does it the sooner he gets paid and can get onto the next one; but then it’s easy to be critical when you watch someone else doing it instead of yourself.

I think I’ve been singing the praises of Bill. Hallelujah ever since I’ve been growing brom’s, so I’ll just say, “if you can get one get it, you won’t be disappointed.

Waipara Hills looks like our sort of place. We used to travel to wineries where ever we went and sampled the lot, as we both enjoy a nice wine with our dinner each night. Unfortunately we’ve never been to N.Z., however there’s still a lot of N.Z. wine comes into our house as my wife is a fan of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, and says in her opinion, they must make the best in the world.

Personally I think it tastes like grass clipping mixed in water as I’m a red drinker, but everyone I know who likes wine tells me there’s not a Sauvignon Blanc that can come near the New Zealand ones for freshness and crispness.

Although Australia makes some world class wines, I’m told they still can’t make a Sauvignon Blanc to satisfy my wife’s pallet, but fortunately we have access to all the best that NZ has to offer and at reasonable prices as well. Occasionally my son will bring a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc over if we’re having a meal together and my wife immediately checks the label to see if it’s from N.Z. (preferably Marlborough).

Personally I like a good red and I still reckon Australia has it over the New Zealanders and the rest of the world in this department, but thanks to Dan Murphy’s, we have the best of all countries at affordable prices as well.

Colleen – You asked about the plant in your picture on January 9, it looks like an Ae. recurvata or a recurvata hybrid to me and to bring out the best in colour they need really bright light.

I like the look of you Neo. ‘Baker’s Pride’ although I can’t find it on the BCR or the FCBS site, so it appears it’s unregistered. It does slightly resemble one called ‘Baker’s Tiger’ though so it’s possible it came from the same grex and it would be interesting to compare them colour wise after yours was grown in high light as I think I can see some similarities there, but then it may just be my imagination.

Baker was quite a productive hybridiser and has 56 registered hybrids to his credit, what’s more it wasn’t just Neo’s he bred as the registrations include Aechmeas, Billbergias, Dyckias, Hechtias, Neoregelias, Orthophytums and Tillandsias; so quite mixed bag. To see his Neo. ‘Baker’s Tiger’, go to http://registry.bsi.org/?genus=NEOREGELIA&id=7491#7491

Shirley – Nice to see you posting again. I know just how frustrating it is when you have lots of gardening to do and you can’t do it for various reasons and I imagine Michael would have been very p...ed off when his afternoon of spraying was buggered up by the rain.

Weeds are a constant battle when you have a large area of garden and the only way to stay on top is to do a little weeding each and every day; this of course doesn’t work when you’re constantly being interrupted with showers and the weeds seem to grow even quicker.

Bad news about the Euodias, I didn’t get a single one out of them. I’m afraid I just don’t have green fingers in this department. Jean also sent me thousands of seeds of a nice garden plant she had at her previous house which from the way she spoke I thought they would have grown on “bare concrete”, but I never did any well with them either. I guess I should just be satisfied with the success I have with brom seed, but I would have really liked to have got some of these seeds from both of you going.

I think your garden is a bit like mine Shirley, “a work in progress”, at least you still have the privilege of seeing beautiful King Parrots visiting you, and this has to be a big plus.

Your pictures tell the story of what work you have in front of you as well as show-casing the two beautiful examples of Neo ‘Enchantment’ albo-marginata and Vriesea Gigantea Nova. There was a name change with this plant; I think it was Vr Gigantea var seideliana and changed to Nova or perhaps the other way around, I’m just not sure.

I’ve just been out to get the paper while the showers have stopped and the brom culls in my overgrown front garden are looking nice with the rain, so I’m going back to take a few pic’s which I’ll post after breakfast.

Back again as promised with a few pic’s of my front garden very much in the rough (see Shirley, you’re not the only one) and I see we have a couple more posts from Teresa and Jean since I’ve been away.

Teresa – I think anyone who lights a fire (of any sort) during a fire ban should have the book thrown at them, and perhaps have to sit through a video showing the destruction that fires cause and what a seriously burnt victim looks like; it might help them to realise the possible results of what they do.

But then I suppose you would have the “do-gooders” saying they shouldn’t have to look at these things in case it affects them mentally. My view (and I’ve done bushfire fighting and ambulance work as well and seen the destructive results) is that they already have a mental deficiency if they do these things, and should still be treated as criminals not patients. Unfortunately when the law is dealing with these people, they don’t place enough emphasis on the victims. (Sorry, that’s my “mouth off” for the day, I promise).

Your story of the Bumble Bees caused me to look up what was said about them on the internet, and it seems that unlike the Honey Bee, they are generally docile, social creatures and will only sting when threatened. It’s only the queen and the workers that sting and not the drones and the only time a problem may arise is if the victim is stung multiple times or is allergic to the venom. I guess the old rule applies, “don’t hurt me and I won’t hurt you”.

When we were kids we often caught Blue Ringed Octopuses (or as some people incorrectly refer to them as octopi). I’ve had hundreds of them on the palm of my hand during my childhood and never once been bitten (we didn’t know they could be fatal in those days). The thing is they wouldn’t have felt threatened as they were free to move over my palm; on the other hand, if I had it clutched in my grasp I may not be writing this now.

Another childhood venomous creature we frequently played with was the White –Tailed Spider; and a bite from this on someone who is allergic to the venom can be fatal; again we didn’t know this at the time and used to catch them in a jar. We would then draw a circle in the dirt and release them into the centre of the circle and have a race with the first one to get out of the circle being the winner. I still wonder to this day why I never got bitten, just good luck I guess.

Jean – That Neo ‘Burbank’ is a very nice looking plant, and now I see the whole plant and not just the underside of the leaves, I realise it’s not like Birdrock at all. I have a plant called Neo. ‘Burbank’ variegata and as the name implies it’s variegated. Although the colour is brilliant, it unfortunately only has very narrow leaves which detract from its overall appeal.

I got my Neo. ‘Satsuma’ from Sue, and I find it gets the best colour when grown beneath 75% beige shade cloth.

That’s a nice little collection of Ae recurvata types you have there. I find these are probably the toughest plants of the lot and I haven’t found anything that can kill them yet. Mine’s been exposed to 50C degree heat and freezing condition when the dog’s water froze over, and still they keep growing.

Your last plant is now referred to as Neo. ‘DeRolf’ (one word). It is a plant grown from Neo. johannis seed and for many years was referred to as Neo. Johannis DeRolf. It was however registered with the BCR as Neo. ‘DeRolf’ in 1995. It is a beautiful plant and quite variable as you will see by the various pictures on the FCBS site.

At last, I’m finished and will just put up a few pic’s I took in the garden this morning.

All the best, Nev.