We came from here http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1009850/
This topic is open to anyone remotely interested in bromeliads, nationally or internationally, and all experts and beginners are welcome.
Photos are greatly admired!
Sue
Neoregelia 'Jewellery Shop'
Thank you Sue for teleporting us! Your Neo. 'Jewellery Shop' is just fantastic!
I'm working on getting more sun into some parts of my yard - had hubby out today chopping back a bush that was too tall & blocking the sun! But I don't know if I'll ever have the sun you manage to get! The big advantage of a shde/light house I guess!
I'm currently working on colour themes in various spots in my garden. I'm quite "challenged" aesthetically, so I'm doing a lot of put & look & rearrange & rearrange & rearrange,.... At least with Neos there such a wide range of colours to choose from you can usually find some colour harmony. Here's my new small "purple & green" section.
Thank you for the seed sowing advice Sue. I have a clear plastic container with lid and base holes so will use that. I do have spaghnum moss too. I will get the seeds in today and keep them in the lounge with the Angels. Hubby will just have to share the table with one more container. I'll keep you posted if and when they sprout. Jean.
Hi everyone how is all in the land of brom. Leisa love the idea on the colour combinations - I was just mixing them all up, but this is a much better idea to show our babies off. Good luck Jean with growing brom babies from seed, my first attempt failed but will try again soon probably with some billbergia seed that I have. Sue your jewellery shop is just awesome, I don't think mine is getting enough light. Made a big boo boo this week, put my Aechmea Mexicana in too much sunlight and now it has burn marks :-( silly me Great idea Mike re the blinds. When do your group meet again, so I can the date in my calendar. Would love to come along if I can. Leisa I am coming down to Brisbane this week for work ( are you working from the new Sparq location) and staying the weekend so fingers crossed I can get to a few of the brom nurseries or markets - any suggestions as to where I may pick up a couple of brom bargains? take care everyone and I do hope you are having a lovely weekend. Glenda
Hi bromnuts Hi Jean hope this might help you.
Sowing Vriesea Seeds.
(Extract: from Broms under the mango tree) by John Catlan.
Prepare your- raising container using an open seed raisins mix. Get it as smooth as possible, especially if the mix is coarse. If the mix is coarse and open you can press it down level. Then thoroughly water the mix, while the top of the mix is very wet; sow the seeds, NB-No air movement – very wet mix-Very dry hands.
Before you start, tease the seed apart and place in a paper bag. Take some of the seed in two fingers and stroke the dry seed across the wet mix evenly with seeds, fog the air above the seeds letting the water droplets fall on to the seed. When the seeds are wet water the seeds so the hairy bits are in close contact with the mix. Just repeat the process, filling the areas that you have missed. Water the seed tray thoroughly to start the seed rising cycle.
I like to have the hairy bits in contact with the moist soil because my theory is that these hairy bits have a capillary action that draws water to the seed, this would keep the seed moist helping germination while at the same time lengthening the interval between watering. This helps me to reduce algae and moss problems. end of extract! I would not use sphagnum moss its a living thing and if you put it through the microwave you would probably kill it (and as Sue says its a good idea to nuke your seedling mix to kill off the bugs and spoor ) you could try a cactus seed-raising mix and ad some coarse peat !
Leisa I like what you are doing with colours and broms I tried and failed (must be a male thing to get the combination wrong)
Glenda our brom group meets second Sunday of november next meeting will be at T/sands , Sue have seen some of the Hyb of Jewellery Shop. cheers mike
Neo seeds three weeks old.
same seeds a few weeks later
and I think at eight week,
sorry posted the wrong one, Pic two is the same as pick three!!! and that at around two months.
This message was edited Sep 12, 2009 8:37 AM
Thank you for the help, Mike. I will try both methods with half the seeds each. I do have some seed raising mix here and a bit of cacti mix. I have used clear plastic strawberry punnets with attached lids before, so will get them out and sterilise them. I hung some of my mini broms in little pots, onto a piece of weldmesh standing behind the bench so I have a mini vertical garden . I am still watching the flower on my large noid brom . It now has small blue flowers opening up the bloom. I will post a pic in a few more days. I went mad again and bought a new brom on eBay. I have never seen so many broms as are on there lately. Mine is Billbergia 'fosters striate'. I may have to creep into the epi house benches if I keep buying broms but they are so pretty.
Jean.
Perhaps this is the place to seek out an ID for my Broms. I have this red/purple one that puts out small red and white striped 'capsule' shaped blooms
And this green one that puts out a showy pink and blue bloom
Hey Leisa, your arrangment works fine. I found I had to keep mixing mine up, because I ended up with all red ones together and so on, and they all started to look the same, so now I try to arrange them so that each one stands out amongst the others, so a vibrant foliage goes with a plain foliage, and variegated go with non variegated. I think it works, but I move them around fairly often, so it doesn't really matter! he he. Yes, i am extremely lucky to have my bright/shade house, as it seems to be the perfect spot for bringing out those colours. I have found that I am now in need of a darker spot, as some greener plants are looking washed out, and some variegated plants go really red, and lose the definition of the vertical lines, so keeping them a bit more shaded should bring the green back. Maybe a bit of fertiliser too to get some size, as all the highly coloured ones are quite compact.
Jean, experimentation is the way to go! As long as you haven't spent too much money on your seeds, then you wont get too attached or disappointed if they don't suceed. I've lost quite a few, but have also had a good germination rates with others, using the same mixes and methods, so I assume faliure is to do with the seed type, viability, Hygeine and genetics. I found by washing my hands in a light bleach solution before handling the seeds ensured I wasn't passing any fungi or bacteria onto the sterile media. I also use the cold, boiled water from the jug in the morning, to fill my misting bottles. I have recently begun to add 1ml of Alginox, (a pool algaecide with NO copper) to a litre of water to keep away the algae e.t.c. High light is a major factor for algae too, so if it persists, move the container to a slightly darker spot. Anyway, just go for it!
Hi Themoonhowl, I'm not sure of the identity of your broms, especially with out a flower to help, but maybe your second is Aechmea gamosepala? I have attached a pic for you to look at. The first one might also be an Aechmea. Does the flower protrude on a longish stem? Is the flower stem upright or pendulous? The description you gave of red and white striped capsule shaped blooms does not ring any bells with me, how about you mike?
Thank you so much. The picture and ID are spot on.
As for the other brom, the blooms are on a short pendulous stem that just barely puts the blooms at leaf end. The blooms are clustered at the end of the stem and are approx 1 to 1.5 cm in length. they are white with a horizontal reddish purple stripe and a solid spot of reddish purple at the tip of the bloom.the bloom does not open, but appears to be a solid tube/capsule.
I brought this brom back to my house in 1988 after my father passed away, and my mom had no idea what its' name was.I occassionally look around for a name, but have sort of resolved myself to calling it Dad's Weirdo.....grin
Spectacular gardening weather here - bright, breezy & 25c.
I've been out to the local Deagon markets & picked up a couple of mystery flowering broms for $3 -$7 each. Here's Ae. Red Ribbon which I got for $3. It reminds me of Neo. Amazing Grace, which is one of my favorite Neos.
Glenda, I hope you enjoy your trip to Bris. Yes I'm now working in the Sparq office in Bowen Hills. We're feeling a bit deprived in the new location due to lack of lunch facilities (the city had everything imaginable), but it's closer to home for me, so that's good. When EGX move out next year nearby, things will improve no doubt. If you're out that way, I'd love to say hello face to face!
Re markets in Bris, here's a handy list http://www.coastshop.com.au/brisbane/entertainment/markets.htm
Mt Gravatt showgrounds are suppoed to be pretty good. They're a bit far away for me, so I've not been but a friend reports bargains. Caboolture markets are good too, Deagon markets are fairly small, but handy for me. Jan Power's markets (http://www.janpowersfarmersmarkets.com.au/) are always good for food & have occasional plant sellers. They're on in the city on Weds, which might be handy for you. There's always the South Bank & Riverside markets, but that's more crafts etc.
The Olive Branch nursery is probably closest to the city, Wildfire Garden is just up towards Bribie Is - the bus trip went there a few weeks ago. Most places are happy for visitors, but ask you to phone ahead to let them know you're coming. See http://www.bromsqueensland.com/pdf/Jul-Aug_2009.pdf for details
Jean, you sounds like you're having fun with eBay! Billbergia 'fosters striate' certainly looks interesting. I've got a small plant that I think is this, but I have to wait for it to flower to confirm. Good luckk with your seeds. I tell my hubby how other men have to suffer with plants on the dining table etc to try & battle his complaints of plants everywhere - to no avail ;-)
Hi The Moon Howl, there are so many broms aren't there. The 2nd one looks like a Billbergia - having a pic of your flower would make it easier. They both look happy & healthy plants though! You could try trawling through: http://fcbs.org/pictures.htm
Thank you much Leisa. I will certainly give that site a good look.
We enjoyed Jan Power's market while we were visiting our daughter in Brisbane, or as our 4 y/o grandson says , Parker Av, Northgate. grin
Have become carmelized Balsamic and Rose vinegar addicts and Smelly Cheese Shoppe/River Flats Estates folks are usually there on Wednesdays, and at the market on every other Saturday.
Between that and my husband's addition to TimTams, we had to have an extra suitcase to come home. If I could have gotten away with it I would have brought home a ton of Cacti/succulents from the show up at Mt Coot-tha ....grin
Sorry Themoonhowl, I can't place it. I did have a squizz at the FCBS site but couldn't find any matches. It sounds as though you enjoyed your time here in Australia. Thats what we like to hear! I love Timtams too.
Sorry Glenda, I overlooked your post when answering last. Sorry about your Aechmea mexicana, but it will still flower and produce more pups, so all is not lost, just a longer wait for a new plant. Thanks for the compliment on jewellery shop. It was on the wishlist for some time, but I got it for a good price eventually.
I got a nice Neo. 'Yang' yesterday. A very large plant for $12! I also bought pots of mini Neos, and Aechmea 'Snowflake', loose mini Neo pups, Alcantarea imperialis rubra plants (about 20cm tall) a N. 'Gee Whiz' and anothe unknown Neo. It was described as having white flowers, so I am making an assumption it might be a N. johannis hybrid. I guess I will have to wait and see.
Sue
Here is N. 'Yang' enjoying time with new friends!
Does anyone want to try guessing these plant names, from pictures of the leaf tips? Some might be easier than others, but I can try to give clues if needed.
Sue you have scored well - Yang is beautiful, and the rest sound interesting too - a mixed bag is always fun!
Hmmm - I'll start with Vriesea? Am I warm or cold?
The Moon Howl you almost sound like local! Northgate is only a few suburbs away from me! Tim Tams are definitely one of our Australian "delicacies" ;-)
Here's one of my mystery flowering broms I got today. Is it Ae. pectinata do you think?
Wow Leisa your so right, Sue you did score so very well. Lucky you, so many lovely new babies. Your new shade house will be full soon. Rocky is also having fanastic gardening weather and I have been busy potting and getting a new site ready for another shade house. I have decided to turn what was a drainage problem when it rained into a a dry creek bed with a little wooden bridge going over it which then will lead into my new shade house. As usually I am impatient for it to be done LOL
I went to one of our markets today and managed to score Neo. Fury. Were a few others there I liked though no names which drives me nuts. Must post a photo soon as I seem to be the slacko here with not posting any. Is anyone else having a problem tonight with viewing photo's, I do hope that it isn't my computer and that it is the site. So sorry all, can not help with id's - not that I am any good at that anyway. Leisa, I will be coming out to the Sparq site on Wednesday and Thursday as i am now a Sparqie :-) I do hope that we can meet up and say hi. Thank you so much for all the tips re markets etc I do hope that I can talk my cousin who I am staying with over the weekend into going to at least one of them. She really isnt a brom/plant person - dont know how anyone couldn't be :-) Oh by the way Leisa great article in the Qld Brom book. We all need a brom fix, every now and then. In fact, I would love at least one or two of them every day lol
Lucky you Jean Billbergia 'fosters striate' looks beautiful, I have been watching those on ebay for a while now. I have a soft spot for billies, at last count I think I had 55. Mike I have penciled in my diary the 2nd sunday of november so you will have to let me know where i have to go. Gladstone/Tannum is always good for a brom fix too. - way better than rocky .. enjoy your week everyone take care. Glenda
This message was edited Sep 13, 2009 8:20 AM
This is the latest photo of my mystery brom. You can see that the small blue flowers are opening . So pretty. Hopefully when it opens fully someone may recognise it. .
Jean.
Yes leisa, Vriesea it is, now try for the species name. It is commonly sold in bunnings and big W. I'm not sure about your mystery brom, A. pectinata has quite light green foliage and is a big plant with quite pointy leaves. The leaves go pink/red from about halfway to the tips at flowering, but I have never seen the flower.
Glenda, I like the sound of your dry creek bed! I made one to help drain water from the bottom end of the fernery, and have plans for more. No doubt you get rain like ours, where it is nearly always torrential! I hope you do get to see some broms and plants while you are out and about.
Jean, your flower really does resemble Aechmea 'Mary Brett' but not the foliage. I wonder if its because its in more shade. My A. 'mary Brett' is beggining to flower now, so I'll duck up and take a pic. hang on!
Glenda, you certainly have a soft spot for Billbergias - 55 is a good collection! I won't be at work in Thurs, so I hope we can catch up on Wed - I'm on level 2 - near the tea room!
Jean, that's pretty flower!
Sue, some type of Vr. splendens, eg Splenriet or Favorit - am I getting warmer or cooler?
ok, heres Aechmea 'Mary Brett'
Spot on Leisa, V. splendens! I was trying to keep it relatively easy, as we're not experts here! he he.
This is A. recurvata, one of the parents of A. 'Mary Brett'. It accounts for the pointy leaf tips and the reddish hue on flowering, also the little pink floral tubes.
This is the other parent, A. caudata, although this one isn't fully in flower yet.
It accounts for the black leaf tips, and the yellow/orange stem and spike.
This inflorescence will have yellow floral tubes
ok Leisa, this is a cultivar. See if you can get the genus first.
Hi Bromnuts ! welcome themoonhowl (tim tams never eaten one!!! maybe two or three at a time) as for your plants I think your first one might be Aechmea Valencia" in full light the leaves should go dark purple to red "but as Sue Say's with out a flower it's hard to tell" your second looks like it might be Billbergia pyramidalis you could check on FCBS sites bromeliad photo index, they to look like they might benefit with a bit of extra light. Sue your Neo Yang was a good deal $12 * I have Neo Yin but no Yang they are both good plants, now where did you get the idea of the leaf from?? I'll take a punt and say Neo painted lady crossed with a variegated carcharodon clone of some type. Hi Glenda seeing that you like Bills have you been to Valerie Honeywoods place in Bundy (she has bred some nice bills) cheers
Hi I was playing around with the camera this morning trying to get a photo of Neo Nelson without to much colour wash - hard without good 35mm digital that will come later ,I used a purple back sheet and took this shot at around 0630 before the sun got to high ,its a passable shot but the colour's not right, as I said the back sheet is purple," but comes out with to much blue" dose any one have any tips? short of getting a new camera,
this is another shot taken this morning in the same light (sorry do not know the name of this Neo) its about half growen at around 40cm across will get to 80cm to 90cm,I sometimes think that I'm about Neo'd out, till I come across plants like this! then I look around and think mmmmm, hey that one's nice and that one
Thanks so much for the warm welcome. When I planted those two broms 6 years ago, they got wonderful morning sun, but wouldn't ya know it, the tree got bigger and other stuff grew...grin Since they have proven to be hardy in my zone, I will search out a new place to move them to give them better light. The red one has continued to grow and pup, but has not bloomed this year nor last year, I am thinking. I must say you have all inspired a sense of awe and envy with your beauties. Thanks for sharing your knowledge. Jean/Moon
Hmmm Jean - I've just had a closer look at the 2nd mystery brom I bought on the weekend & the flower is very similiar to yours! Unfortunately the tag only says Ae. 2...
Mike, I wish you knew the name of that lovely green & white pink tipped Neo. I've got one that's similar that's always been a mystery to me. Neo Lovely Lady maybe? As for getting the right colour, there are long & complex & costly solutions to getting your screen to display the right colours. Remember it could be the camera or the monitor etc. My husband spent about $4000 on special monitor & colour correcting device so he could -print- exact colours, but hey he rarely prints!!! Don't ask! And some colours are harder to capture than others.
Now Sue - I'll go with Neo..... I just went hunting for a my plant of what I think it is, but I'll wait to see if I'm in the right direction first.
This message was edited Sep 15, 2009 3:51 PM
Is this Neo. Lovely Lady do you think?
Leisa, I'll keep an eye on my flower as it opens. It does look like the Mary Brett flower but my plant has no dark tips on the leaves and seems to me to be a bit more smoky green with the soft stripes.
Hi all, sorry Mike, right off the mark with that one and Leisa, its not a Neoregelia. Shall I give you a clue? It has a flower spike.
Mike, I know nothing! I can't get purples to print/show purple either, they are always a bit blue. Do you have an editing programme? The trick might be to adjust the hue, going away from blue to more reds. Because blue and red make purple, your red hue might be a bit lacking. Just a thought.
Leisa, your plant looks almost identical to Mikes! Is it the size his gets to? I think yours must get more light than Mikes, hence not as much contrast between the variegated stripes and the green. Then again, maybe its Mike 'Blue Hue' he he. No idea on the name, but really nice! Your NOID Aechmea is also Mary brettish. I guess you'll just have to enjoy them without a name for awhile. You might just stumble accross one, one day and find it. Leisa, can you take yours to your next meeting and ask?
Hello again Jean/Moon (sticking to that because Sunset is also Jean) You'll soon be addicted like the rest of us no doubt! he he. Luckily there is no cure, unless lack of money is it?
Hello our Jean, you're in the same boat as Leisa. I know you're enjoying your NOID too.
I'll post the same pic again so you don't have to go back and forwards. Another clue..........its a species cultivar (ie, not crossed between species)
Sue
Hmmm I thought it was too easy. The leaf tip looks like my Neo. Fosperior Perfection...
My green/white/pink Neo NOID doesn't look like that previous pic any more. I think I kept in under the patio for too long & it grew very long & strappy, then I gave it more sun & now the green colour is much more pronounced & it went pink in the centre when it flowered. Now I'm working on good light & shape with the small pups. Mike, your's is something to aspire to!
I'm going to have to trawl FCBS to solve your mystery Sue...
Hi all! Ok Sue I'll try again ('off the mark is my middle name ') is it an Aechmea cultivar, with maybe a bit of lluddemanniana in it ? I thought maybe Alvarez but it mostly it has a full colour mid band ?Leisa/Sue thanks for the tips on trying to get the colour right I don't think I'll spend 4 thousand equipment rather spend it on plants; might take on what you suggest Sue and play around with an editing programe , most shots turn out fair it's just some, that never show the colour quite right.
Leisa I had a look on FCBS site and couldn't find any Aussie Dream Neo's some do look a bit like your neo, my neo was grown in strong light and tends to keep it's green as do its pups its the number of leaves that makes it a bit different ,
Hi Jean/moon had a look around Prairieville{ Louisiana} (google earth) intresting part of the world, blues country{ i love blues} not far from New Orleans jazz country {i love jazz} or is thier an other Prairieville, plant is an other form of Gee Wee
Good Morning Bromalong...yep you got the right Prairieville. just about 15 miles SE of Baton Rouge (state capital) and 50 miles NW of New Orleans...right in Cajun country....Good food, good music, good people.....don't see how my son in law convinced my daughter to move....grin.
But, I will admit even though we have spent two months in Au, and seen some of your gorgeous country, that is no where near enough time to do it justice. We traveled from Sydney to Uluru-Kata-tjuta to see the Olgas and Ayer's rock, up to Cairns, Daintree and the Great Barrier Reef, down to Paronella Park and Townsville, to Brisbane, where my daughter lives, got to see the Gold Coast, the Sunshine Coast, Noosa,the markets at Eumundi, Glasshouse mtns, and every botanical garden and rainforest park we could.
Maybe if we manage a couple more months, we might be able to say we have seen a fair part of your beautiful country.
With two young grandsons there, we are trying to learn as much as possible about the country, customs and history. Our 4 year old grandson Aidan tells us he is Aussimerican, but his Mum is Ameralian.....
Mike got it. Aechmea lueddemanniana 'Alvarez'. A. 'Mend' is Albomarginated, while A. 'Alvarez' is variegated down the centre, and is quite a bit larger than A. 'Mend'
I like your Neo. 'Fosperior Perfection' Leisa. Mine has had 2 pups, one variegated and one Novar, and now has another two that are both variegated. Mine does not have any green in it though?
Jean/moon, Cairns is one of my favourite places, and I'm sory i didn't get to visit Paronella park when i was up that way. I hear it is a really interesting place? How long since you were here?
I like the combination of American and Australian. Cute!
Ok, next leaf tip? Anyone?
Sue
We were at Paronella in 07, and then in Brisbane this summer. This link to Paronella gives you a bit of how lovely it is.
http://www.paronellapark.com.au/
Hi bromnuts ! Sue might have to do a plant swap sometime,he he my clone's of Ae Alvarez have a strong band of colour up the mid section of the leaf with just a hint of variegation: might have to look around at my plants for a clue on your leaf {could be a plant that like's lower light } Leisa could your Neo be the one in the photo. It was sold to me as Aussie dream lovely lady ?its a bit more advanced than yours hence the colour.
Oh dinner on!!!! got to go
