Australian and New Zealand Gardening: OUR BROMELIADS INTO 2015.. , 3 by bromishy

bromishy wrote:
Hi Everyone!

I seem to be VERY time poor at the moment and not getting to chat with you as often as I used to and I am very disappointed about that as it is one of the past times that I really enjoy and a great way to distress after work. Anyway I thought I would sneak the opportunity tonight as it’s the first night in a long time that I don’t have something I need to get done before the next day and I get a bit of a breather for a change.

The weekend was lovely with a bit of gardening achieved on Saturday, people come over to buy some broms in the morning that are now regular customers and now their daughter is also hooked on them and also brought some to take home and they are coming back to buy some more this weekend so they are well and truly hooked; and then a 20th anniversary to go to that evening which was lovely; and Sunday was spent catching up with a friend in the morning, shopping after that and playing with my bromeliad seedlings in the arvo that are growing very well and soon I will have to find a bigger garden to accommodate them he he.

Jean your roses are beautiful, I wish I had room to grow them here but I only have room for broms the way I am cluttering up our garden. Pleased to hear you liked the pics of Neo. ‘Lorena’ even with it’s unstable markings. Your broms are looking fantastic too and clearly enjoying their new home.

Jean pleased to hear you are taking up painting again; I am thinking about taking oil-painting back up again possibly this year but still thinking about it at the moment as so very time poor all the time and broms are my passion but it would be nice to have a second hobby when I need a break from the broms (can’t believe I uttered those words from my lips).

Nev your physio sounds horrid but I am glad you are getting some relief after all that torcher.

Like you I have always been attracted by colour and that’s where my fascination / passion grew into collecting them, in my opinion they are the most colourful plants available out there.

I don’t worry too much about getting a bromeliad name wrong but if I realise my error I think it’s very important to let everyone know to save any unnecessary confusion as there is enough out there already without adding to it, plus it gets me out of any bad habits I have in getting the name wrong in the first place.

With regards to my Neo. NOID we spoke about that you said looks the same as your Neo. carolinae x concentrica, thanks for trying to find a picture to justify what you said, I agree it’s very hard to compare given our different climates and how you prefer to grow yours without the darker markings; I have mine growing under 70% green shade-cloth which brings out it’s marking. I have seen many Neo. ‘Inkwells’ grown in Townsville by other growers and the two plants look nothing the same as well as I also have a maturing pup of Neo. ‘Inkwell’ that looks very different to my NOID in both size, colour and markings so I think I will just keep calling mine a NOID to not cause any unnecessary confusion because either way with or without a name in my eyes it’s a firm favourite of mine that will always have a place in my garden; I just wish the bloody thing would pup because I have had it for about 6 years now and still no sign of a pup and the plant is getting long in the tooth now and probably will only last another year or two if I’m lucky.

My Vr. Philippo-corburgii I growing in full sun with no burn marks yet this summer but I give it Seasol Concentrate fortnightly so I think that helps it a lot, I have many others growing in shadier spots so all others are green naturally. Thanks for attaching that picture of the one with the red tips, very unusual indeed and I wonder what would have caused such a variation, nature is amazing like that and would it’s pups revert to the normal chocolate tips even if the plant did not have them in the first place?

What a great assortment of pics you have posted all these days I have missed, so full of beautiful shape and colour and too hard to pic a favourite as I like them all.

Colleen pleased to hear you are getting some good rain and sounds like you enjoyed playing in it; I too luv nothing more than to garden in the rain and I normally like to do so barefooted ever since I was a kid and I remember mum used to always tell me off that I would catch a cold, and it’s the best time to pull out weeds.

Lovely pic you posted on Neo. Baker’s Pride.

Teresa that river you visited sounds lovely but for some reason I could not access the link on my mobile so if I remember I will have to check-out on my laptop. Sounds like you have been busy in the garden also like many off us, the work just never ends, hope the rain has helped you lawn.

I totally agree Bumble Bees are beautiful and do look soft and fuzzy he he.

Bill. Hallelujah is a must to have in your collection and if you can grow this one then I can’t see why you can’t grow some of the other Bills’ around and probably worth investigating.

Brian pleased to hear you are also getting some nice rain. I have never heard of Ae. ‘Little Ruby’ but never the less it’s an interesting looking plant and you will have a bitter chance of identifying once it flowers so post a pic then and we can all have a good look and try to identify for you. I just read Nev’s useful info so sure this will help lots.

Shirley, long time no speak, sounds like you have been flat-out busy by the read of things. Nice to hear you are also getting some rain, we had good amount here with possibly more tomorrow and over the weekend.

Growing broms under your Jacaranda and Euodia will be lovely and would luv to see some pics when you have finished that project, I can imagine that you will be able to house a good many there which I am sure you will be excited about. Also your pics of Neo. ‘Enchantment albo and Vr. Gigantea Nova are lovely but I could not enlarge because of some internet issue so will have to try again later.

Lovely pics everyone has posted lately of Neo. ‘Burnsie’s Spiral’, this one has been on my Wish List for a long time so if anyone has a spare pup they want to swap with something else I have or sell please let me know and we can go from there?

Take Care & Happy Gardening!

Trish

Pic 1 – Neo. 'Purple Sand'
Pic 2 to 5 - Broms in back garden - sideways sorry - old pics