Australian and New Zealand Gardening: Bromeliads for Novices and Addicts - August 2013, 1 by weed_woman

weed_woman wrote:
Good morning all, its taken a little while for me to catch up from the old thread and find my way here.
Thanks Jen, for staring an August thread, and your Guzmanias are gorgeous!
Ian, you asked in the previous thread, what the Tillandsia next to T. duratii was. It is actually a succulent, Cotyledon orbiculata, which is in desperate need of restarting, as it as gotten a bit woody and is shrivelling a bit. Mind you, it has been in that basket for about 5 years, with not much attention!
Nev, the scale and boggy soil are all in the collection I bought. It didn't seem that bad when I first bought them, but it was summer, and they could use that moisture then, but now its totally deadly to most of them, and it has made the cold tender ones mark even more, by having damp feet. Anyway, I have gotten through more than half of it, and there is light at the end of the shade tunnel! heh heh
I have to tell you all, a friend and I finally visited the older gentleman I met at Bunnings a while back. He had 8 acres of park-like gardens, and a rainforest area, with a small spring fed damn and bromeliads planted and perched on the banks and in trees and on the ground. It was quite boggy, and there were nidulariums and Cryptanthus doing very well indeed. Alan, his name is, had been down in Sydney for the most part, and moved to Bonville about 16 years ago. He used to collect a lot of tillandsias, mostly, but only bought a small selection with him when he moved up here. He had his Tillandsia collection mounted and hanging in a Huge Dracaena tree, outside his kitchen window, as well as a few in another area, hanging from a chicken wire fence and doing very well!
So, we did very well out of the visit, as he loaded us with anything we looked at with love! If he had more than one of it, he was happy to share and he didn't accept an offer of payment. He said he had never sold a bromeliad in his life, and wasn't about to start now! I will add some photos to the bottom of my post.
Tash, the comparison photos are great. I love the colour you got from Neo. 'Barbara' I can't get anywhere near that golden, but get a slightly lemon yellow. Your winter sun seems ideal for the Neos! Lucky thing. Mine are all looking a bit pale, and I am tempted to try them in full sun and see how they go, but maybe only ones I have more than one of?
Hi Shirley, Jean, Theresa, Cody and Trish. I will try to catch up again soon. I am still painting and potting, and have the added bonus of a developing cold, so hopefully it doesn't slow me down too much!
photo one is a Tillansia seedling growing out of a statue at Allans.
Photo two-five are the rainforest broms.
as per usual, I didn't take enough photos, and quite a few didn't turn out, as it was a gloomy day.
Hope all are well
Sue