Bromeliads for the novices and addicts, Nov-Dec 2010

Thought I'd better start a new thread as our other one was really long, and I feel sorry for anyone on dial up that is trying to look at the pics. We came from here http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1132451/#new

The sound of silence. hello...ello....llo....lo!
I began work on the new garden this arvy, and have decided it will be the Aechmea garden. I have a few foliage ones that need good light to be their best, and I can mingle in the green ones which will shine when they come into flower. I didn't get all that far today, but every bit is a step closer!
I'm trying to wait a little bit longer to take the pups off the neos, but its really hard! At least they'll be a good size when I finally do. I think I've been taking them off a little early in the past and i've heard they tend to flower early when removed early, so I'm practising patience, trying.
Let me see whats in the photo cache
This is Vriesea 'Margarita', at a friends house.
Sue

Hi Sue
Thanks for the new thread. If I knew how to do it I would have.
Jen I missed seeing you this weekend. Are you still reading??? Hope your mum is doing OK. Counting down till school holidays????? We are planning a trip to Jacobs Well before xmas. Interested in joining us???? Luke wants to come again. We may need to go in two cars again like last time. When trying to buy from Genny Catlan last weekend she just kept saying to come down to her place to buy cause she would give us better prices so I guess we better go there to buy from her.
This is neo megan. every day her pinks are more vibrant. she is stunning. I am waiting patiently for pups to appear.
Wendy

Sue my Broms are starting to bloom ...a few at once. The ones with the little purple blooms way down inside.
How do you make seeds?
Is it difficult?
Botanical tips ?

Hello Everyone :D

I've been meaning to add a post ever since lovely Jenny told me about this blog. That was almost a couple of months ago now, so with a wee bit of extra encouragement from Wendy (who I met over the weekend), here I am...FINALLY. Hi Jenny, Wendy & John!
I haven't read every thread/page, but already I feel as if you're all old friends. I may only be several weeks into the brom addiction, (may as well fess up at the outset!), but I have met so many super lovely people already, that even if my brom interest went off the boil, I'd still be in it for the people.
I already love your plants (thank you all for the pics), & it's wonderful getting a look-see at your gardens too. It's all great for ideas & inspiration. Give me some time, & I'll eventually get around to sharing some pics with you too.

I'm very much a green-horn with broms, so any & all advice is always gratefully received. I haven't killed any plants as yet, so we're off to a good start! It's early days for me, so I haven't perfected my own brom-blend, & am still mastering light exposure, & even how to tell aechmea's from alcantarea's, quesnelia's, tillandsia's, nidularium's, vriesea's...you name it.
Anyway, enough of that. Probably very boring stuff for you all to read. Suffice to say that I can't wait to learn from you all.

I was at the Catlan's the other day & the first plant I spotted was a Vr 'Margarita', so I was very happy to see a picture of it on DG Sue. Unfortunately Genny said it was their only one & not for sale, as they'd only JUST purchased it from Mt Cootha, & intend to use it for breeding. For those of you who, like me, think it's gorgeous, Genny said that Olive had it for sale. (Genny bought it for $40). I wonder what your friend paid for it Sue? It really is lovely though. I also saw another foliage vriesea that I fell for (no longer for sale in the smaller sizes), but Genny said it was a new one called Fen Fez or something like that. (Think it's a mixture of Fenestralis & Hieroglyphica...just remember the Egyptian fez hat).
Despite the champagne taste & beer budget, I still managed to relieve them of a few lovelies. (Jenny, I loved your pink? Nova so much, I just had to have one too. It's just a baby, but I don't care. Love, love, love it!). I was on the look out for some blue neos, & came away with a Bullis Blue, & Rain Cloud, & a very big wish list. Thank you Genny & John :D

For those interested, Genny said that Olive was having an open day on the 5th of December (I think), so that could be good to check out. I've not been there yet, so it'll be good to get an eye full if nothing else.

Wanted to say a grateful thanks to Wendy & John for being so lovely to me & my family on Saturday. It was such a treat to talk broms & to soak up some informative & helpful advice (& to relieve you of some of your beauties, which are all potted up & hopefully happy in their new home). I'll let you know how I go with the Tillandsia. I shared them with my Mum, so we'll give you progress reports if successful (Crossing fingers, eyes & toes). I definitely look forward to more of your sales, so please let us know when you plan the next ones as I don't get your local rag. I might even have some extra company with me next time, as I noticed one of my sisters eyeing off the Manoa Beauty & ospinae gruberii ;)
I recommend a trip to see their new garden folks. I didn't see the 'before', but the 'after' is fantastic. If it's still slippery Wendy, it's due to me drooling all over it with envy.

Before I forget, I happened upon a picture of a plant that reminded me of DawnSong's unknown brom that had that lovely star-shaped flower. I may be way off being a newby, but it might be related or similar to Canistropsis billbergioides. I was searching for something else, & came across a blog page with this fellows brom collection pics. His C. b. plants had pink & purple inflorescences, but he said that they come in at least 9 distinct colours, which also includes yellow & orange. Hope this is of help to you.

Okay, I think I've done my dash for a starter entry. (Leisa & Sue might need to start another new thread!). Just hope I don't lose it all when I submit it.
Before I go, just want to shout out a special 'Hello' & 'Thank you' to Jenny as well, since I would never have discovered you all without her. Hope you are still well & happy (and looking forward to school holidays).

Look forward to getting to know you all.

Happy brom-buying & best wishes,
Haydee

Hello Haydee, and welcome aboard. I went to Wendy and John's on Sunday. I am so impressed with their beautiful gardens, and felt like a goggle eyed kid in a toy shop with so many goodies around. They have done a mighty job getting it to look so fabulous.

I was very restrained though, and came home with just a few. Two are seedlings that Wendy gave me, and one absolutely beautiful mini neo. I can't thank Wendy enough for the time she spent with us, showing us around, and sharing so much helpful information. I struck another name off my wish list as I got my AECHMEA BLANCHETIANA ORANGE PUP.

Karen

I am very excited about the seedlings, as they are both going to be surprises. Time will tell all.

This is the beautiful mini neo. Vulcan...

Karen

Hi Karen & thanks for the welcome. You've done well with your purchases. It'll be wonderful to see what they look like once matured. Very exciting. I met a friend of Jenny's a while ago, (Hello Dell if you're out there), & she's got some beautiful blanchettiana's. Their colour gets so beautiful & vivid. Real feature plants. Come to think of it, I think you can see one in one of Wendy's last garden photos too. Gorgeous.

Also wanted to mention a blog with pictures & explanation that may be of interest to Chrissy. I found it helpful to look over. Not sure if I can type in addresses, but here goes... www.bromeliad-growing.blogspot.com

If you're anything like me, there's nothing like learning by doing, but I've got a lot to learn before I attempt raising from seed. I think John & Genny have Propagation get-togethers spasmodically, so that may be worth looking into.
My little boss has just woken up. Must go. Bye for now :)

Thankyou for the link. ^_^
Very interesting.

Hi everyone. Welcome Haydee. Great to see you found the site. How about some photos? You must be getting quite a collection. Glad to see you made it to Johnny and Wendy's. It's inspiring and they're full of helpful ideas. Sorry I didn't make it around on the weekend, Wendy. Was it busy? I'd love another trip to Catlan's but I'll have to play it by ear. Nice to meet you too Chrissy. I've been lurking a bit lately but too slack to post. Haydee, I've got a couple of those very vivid Blancettianas and they are getting flower spikes. Flowers for Christmas, yes! My mulberry one is also starting to colour up. We must have similar tastes because I bought Vr. Margarita for $40 at the Cleveland Tropical Foliage Festival a few weeks ago. Karen, I only live around the corner from Wendy so you'll have to visit next time you're over this way. My place is nothing like Johnny and Wendy's but I have some pretty broms. Keep the lovely photos coming. Here's my Margarita. Jen

Wow, Haydee, what a nice long post! It sounds as though you are in the right company here. Feel free to ask away, and between us we'll find an answer. I touched on Canistropsis billbergioides when i saw karens plant too, but can't be sure without really seeing it. Any time you want to jump in with ID's, go for it. Some things are familiar to some, but not others.
Wendy, your Neo.'Megan' is lovely. It sounds as though everyone had a good time at your sale, chatting and looking about your garden. You must be very pleased with the good feedback. A big pat on the back for Johhny!
Chrissy, you can try a paintbrush in the flowers between 8am and 11am, and just poke it all around. I usually poke a toothpick or something in after, to mark which ones I played with. It takes about 3 months, I think, for the seed to ripen, by which time they should be like fat berries at the bottom.The rest can be done using the link that haydee posted. Neo seeds are quite fast to grow, compared to vrieseas, and Aechmeas are faster again.
Karen, I like your choice of plants. Did you say 'Wishlist'? Nah....you're not addicted! he he
Hey jen, I love your Margarita. By the way, what day are you thinking of for the Catlans?
I haven't taken any pics, and hubby is tking the camera tomorrow, so I might have to dig one out of the Archives, wait a minute........ah.. heres one taken a few days ago of a window basket I made using Aechmea 'Fosters favourite' which should look good in flower. Did I already post this?
Sue

Hi everyone and welcome Haydee. Chrissy I didn't know that you had broms too, [did I?] Some beautiful ones popping up now and lots of wishlist plants. Sue sent me Hannibal Lector the other day but I'm still after Tim Ploughman with his curls. Oh there's so many isn't there. I think that the wishlist could go on forever. Must get stuck into mine and take some pups off for my son. He's still wrapped in his but he reckons that mine are bigger and pupping more than his. Must be the beautiful SH that he built for me. Maybe they like having Brugmansias in there with them and boy are there some Brugmansias. Them and the cactus have been taking up most of my time but they're all here now and I have settled them all in. Well it was nice coming in and having a little chat but had better go now. Colleen

Hi all. We had a spectacular weekend and cleared out a lot of room for new plants and pups. We went out this morning and spent some of our weekend takings on water pipes, taps etc and we are putting in 4 taps around the back yard to be fed by the tanks and pump. That should make watering a lot easier. There is always another project in the making in our yard. One day we will sit back and not be able to think of anything to do.... NOT... ha ha.
Jen I'm glad to see you are still around. I decided to buy my own copy of that book by Shane Zagini. I went to Cleveland show to get one and they didn't have any there. I was so disappointed. I took your copy down to show Phyllis in Cleveland and she was drooling over some of the new hybrids. She is going to phone Shane to congratulate him on the wonderful hybrids he has made. (For those who don't know Phyllis started us on our addiction about 3 or 4 years ago when we stumbled into her yard to see her blanchetianas flowering. Unfortunately we had left it too late to meet Don Hobbs her husband. It was always one of those things we were always going to do but never got around to doing until too late ... like going to Australia Zoo to see Steve .... too late)
Anyhow back to some good news. I stumbled up to our new shopping centre just up the road, which is opening this weekend. I found the landscapers putting in the gardens and asked for the empty pots and was told to "knock yourself out love" so I did. I took them all plus 30 plasic plant trays. I had the boot full and the back seat. I couln't fit any more in so I might go back tomorrow to get the ones they were still planting out. It feels good to score some freebies now and then.
This is my canistropsis guava which is just starting to flower. We also have citron which is yellow/orange. I love tjese because you get such a range of colours from a clump of them. I must take a photo of the clump showing the range of colours.
Anyhow must go to bed now as we have a big day laying water pipes and taps.
Night all
Wendy

WOW I just checked out Haydee's link to brookreflections website. I then clicked on the link to her collections. I love some of those neos she will have on ebay soon. I recently bought a few plants from her. I think next time we go touring in our campavan we are going to have to stop off in Childers to see her. WOW is all I can say. Sorry
Wendy

This neo. is starting to flower a nice contrasting purple with the red.

Jen, would love to come and visit. Probably won't be down that way again until next year now, but something to look forward to. Thank you.

Is this the plant Canistropsis billbergioides? Another suggestion was Guzmania Lingulata. I wasn't sure if this was the one you meant, Haydee. This is an older photo with the plant more advanced. The plant itself is not very large.

Karen

Trying to post a pic ...can you see this picture?

Yes, sure can Chrissy.

Oh this thing is driving me nuts but as you can see the baby broms that Sue and Leisa sent me a long time ago are still alive and despite being knocked over by cats are looking lovely ...they are by my front door.
SoSue I would like to try my hand at making a special one to name after a special Brom Lady ...so I stick a little thingy down inside the special little blooms ...I could feel the narrow little funnel then the more open base inside like a cup.
I think you might beat me to it huh?
Back to fiddling with the camera.

One more try ...can you see it?

I have an awful confession to make ...I was so busy with many things happening in my life that I never got around to getting the correct potting medium or moving them from the first pots I put them in.
So they are growing in washed river sand with a little cow poo.
Apart from the odd bit of Sea Sol and weak potassium drink about once a year they have had no motherly attention (unlike my beloved Angels).

They do get a lot of spider webs which I have to clean off but that is because they live on my verandahs.

I think they are just about the toughest plants next to cactus that I have ever met ...and there is always the colour.

Hello again. Thank you for all the welcomes. Here's a big hug coming right back at all you lovely people! Colleen, I too love the curly Tim Plowman. I was besotted after seeing him at Dell's & Jenny's, & was lucky enough to get one at the Catlan's.
Karen & Sue, sorry for any confusion. The star-shaped plant I was referring to was the one from the 8th Oct (11:39pm). Here's the link to the picture I saw that made me think of yours Karen.
http://growerjim.blogspot.com/2010/11/canistropsis-billbergioides.html
What do you think folks? Is it a match?
Wendy, my jaw dropped when I read you've acquired your collection in only 3 or 4 years. Holy duck twoddle!!! Good work with the pots & trays too. Recycling at its finest...& what a bargain.
Sue when the seed is ripened up, is it easier to pull up? How do you know when it's ready? By the way, gorgeous Foster's basket.
Gorgeous plant pics everyone. I'm a sucker for colour, & love them all! Your confession made me smile Chrissy. The plants are obviously happy, so the 'meadow muffins' & sand must be working some magic. I, too, have a confession. I've never scanned/loaded a picture, so I'll have to work on that one Jenny. My collection has grown, but I'm sure I'd gladly swap it with yours! All those lovely vrieseas & neos. If you ever have any Vr Splenriet, Vr White Sands, Amazing Grace red form, Tiger Tim or Domino mini pups for sale, let me know. (That should do for starters ;D). I better start saving, because I've already blown next year's brom budget. (My eye's are bigger than my garden & my hubby's wallet!). Can't wait to get some pups of my own to sell so I can get some money into the brom kitty, but they only seem to be coming from the compacta's, McWilliamsii's & matchstick's so far...& I've been gifting them away.
Excited about your blanchettiana's flowering Jenny. Would you mind if I had a squizz some time? I've never seen a Mulberry blanchettiana in full colour. Drooling already.
Haydee

Hi all. I'm a bit too tired today to do the personal replies, but nice lot of pics and everyone sounds like they're enjoying their plants. Well done. I'm going to have a shower.
Sue

Haydee, now I know the one you mean. It could be, but I don't have the expertise to know. I am waiting for it to flower again, but this is from last flowering season. It is a rather stiff plant and bract and can tear the skin without gloves.

Karen

Hi all. Great photos. Haydee, uploading the photos is easy. Do you have a digital camera? If not, that's definitely got to be on your Christmas list. Photograph , label and date everything because you never know when you want to discuss something. Then use the browse tab to link to your photo file. That's it. Here's my Tiger Tim but I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for pups. They take years to pup and mine's only a baby too. Good to hear your sale went well, Wendy. Hope my book isn't all stuck together with drool. Chrissy your plants look really healthy. It just goes to show that broms can be happy in a wide range of mixes and we probably shouldn't get to hung up about them. Sue, ask Wendy about Catlans. She's arranging it and I'm going to just try and tag along. Are you thinking about coming too? By the way, Wendy, I think Sue told me that brookereflections is a man. I was tricked by the "Brooke" as well but it must mean the watery one. Look forward to seeing you in the new year, Karen. Jen

Sorry about the short note, above. I agreee jen, about Chrissys mix. I really think they're not that fussy, most of them, but sand is well draining and I think thats the key for most plants in general.
Bree, haven't seen you in awhile. How is it coming along in your garden?
Chrissy, your pictures loaded ok, it must have been a glitch at your end? I hope its all sorted now. My darling husband has my camera today, so I can't take any pics, but as its raining out (32mm overnight) theres not much to photograph. Chrissy, I swear as soon as my Brugs flower it rains! Coincidence?
Wendy, well done on recycling the building waste. Its amazing to see what goes out in bins! I got alot of trays and tubes from the recycle shop for $2 a full tray. They needed a wash, which i just do when I want to use them. Very handy for starting off small plants.
Colleen, I guess your shadehouse is going to be overflowing very soon! Is there space to build another? Glad the Hannibal made it to you ok. Mine has produced a few pups, but they are slow to grow, and haven't yet flowered for me. I think it originally came from far north, and I find plants from a warmer climate take awhile to flower here, but the pups usually adapt alot quicker.
Haydee, I always give the finished flower a tug, or at least poke around to feel for fat pods. Usually, not always, they pull out quite easily, but you'll get to learn the 'feel' with experience. It doesn't hurt to have a go anyway. I remember first thinking about seed and pulling at everything I could find in the brom house! I still do! Of course with Vrieseas and Tillandsias, they form a pod which you have to wait to dry, and they have airborn seed, a bit like dandelions, all fluffy! It can be a 6 month wait for that seed though.
Anyway, I suppose I'd better go make myself usefull and run the vacuum around the house. Even though its raining I still have to go out to work in it today. Boooo!
By the way Jen, I love that Tiger Tim!
Sue

Jen, I love Tiger Tim too. Very striking.

Sue, it's going to be interesting when I start getting seeds, wondering what to do with them. Do they self pollinate? How do you know if the seed is viable? I don't know if any of my broms have ever seeded or not.

Looks like rain again, but I should still be able to do some potting. Have the hospital again later though, which will be tiring, I guess. Nothing drastic, just checking numbers.

Karen

Hi Karen, some broms self pollinate and others not. Thers no harm in trying though. With neos and Aechmea, when you squeeze the berries, they will have little brown seeds in them. If they are still white, they probably aren't viable. Other than that, you might be right. The biggest threats to the germinating seed are fugus and algae, so make sure all your seed sowing trays and media are sterile, and give your hands a good wash too. Theres plenty of information available on the net about growing from seed http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/bromeliad/msg0714242816117.html
this is just one thread. Try the search engine at the link and see how you go.
We had big rain this morning and its coming over black again. didn't quite get the vacuuming done, so had better do it now.
Hope you're last visit didn't see you waiting too long? Godd luck with todays visit too.
Sue

Thanks Sue for the link. Will check it out shortly. I am almost afraid to start a new project (like growing from seed) as there is so much to do here.

Last week hospital visit was to the cardiologist, and there is waiting involved there, but this week was to the diabetes clinic, who tend to stick fairly close to appointment times. Was a long visit and got home and crashed, was so exhausted.

Karen

Hi all. I got greedy and went back to the shopping centre and got another 30 trays and a boot full of pots again. also filled the back and front seats and floor this time. Couldn't see a thing through the mirror and had to rely on side ones. Luckily it was only down the road to home. I now have to vacuum the dirt out of the car.

As it was bucketing down rain today we stood under the carport and potted pups into new pots I got for free (ha ha). We filled the tray of the ute with pots then moved them all out into the rain for the night.

Oh our latest project was installing watering system throughout the backyard. We now have 4 taps around the yard wth hoses attached all fed by the tank water and pump. Watering now will be a breeze with no dragging hoses everywhere.

Anyhow must go to bed now as we are babysitting Emily again tomorrow so in for an early start and tiring day.
Night all.
Wendy

Hows the weather up there today Wendy? I would do the same as you and get back for those pots. You never know if someone else has had the same idea?
I'm down in rainy Sydney for the weekend, and theres no broms in sight today. I visited a friend yesterday who had a few good clumps of the more widely grown broms, and i took her a couple to add to her growing collection. I think I've managed to turn her onto them, so will send her a few more for good measure.
I visited a local retail nursery, who had a nice collection of unnamed broms, but at $46 each, no way. There was one nice variegated neo that i wasn't familiar with though, and if it had been a reasonable price, I would have been sorely tempted. I should have taken a picture. They had alot of plants for $2 that were nowhere near their used by date, so I bought a few and went back to my friends and we did a gardening session. Merry xmas Mel!
Today I'll take my Mum for a drive to a country nursery/teahouse for a cuppa and then maybe a spot of xmas shopping.
Whats everyone else up to this weekend.
Sue

I wonder if the Sydney folks are fed up with the rain yet?
After being dry for so long I guess it's a mixed blessing.
We had a cracker day yesterday & today, well it's meant to be a ditto day but there is a cool breeze & lots more cloud.
Normally I don't care about Saturday as i work all day - 10.30 - 7pm, but I have the day off to go with hubby to his work Xmas bbq.
His boss has a lovely house & they host it there - they have a pool so I am taking togs just in case the weather comes right.
It started really black yesterday so who knows.
Oddly we haven't had much rain, after a really wet winter it suddenly dried up - not warm just dry so of course the gardens are thirsty & the farmers are worried with more dry weather predicted till feb.
Not a very good pic but it is my electric blue penstemon peeping out from between lettuces.
I need to weed some of the lettuce as it is going to seed.
I only need one to set seed - judging from the thousands of babies I ended up with from the last one.

Hi everyone. Just popped in to show you my new babies. All potted up and ready for the shadehouse. Colleen

Looking good, Colleen. Love that lighter one just off centre. Hope everyone has a nice weekend lined up. I've been doing some potting too, but my pics look boring. The plants look great.

Karen


This message was edited Dec 3, 2010 4:12 PM

Hi everyone. My gardens going pretty good weedwomen, thought its been raining alot here and my plants don't need anymore water for a bit. Ants has nested in a few of my brom pot, ants everywhere here as were close to the coast and its just sand soil. I keep getting rid of them from somewhere and there into another plant. Pimmentos starting to flower..

my bilbergia nutans is really coming away, several babies putting on good growth, think they might like the new position, gets morning sun & then filtered light.

Hi Colleen. Like Karen I find that pink one in the centre interesting.

I had a nice visit with my sister today. She is down from Hervey Bay for a wedding this weekend. It's always nice to have a face to face chat instead of over the phone. When we reach that age when health problems start to arise we need to grab every chance to chat and tell a loved one we love them cause you don't know how many more opportunities you will get. That's a bit deep and meaningful ....

We went up to check out the new shopping centre this morning. Took Emily along and stupidly told her they would probably have things like jumping castle etc for the grand opening. Nup just the Jim Beam racing car with a boot full of freebies but you had to buy some Jim Beam to get a freebie. Anyway we are drinking Jim Beam this xmas. We got a big Jim Beam flag for our son's bar. We tried an Urban Burger but for nearly $10 a burger I don't think we will rush back too often. IGA and bakery will be handy .... just up the road a bit ... walking distance.

We put up our Christmas lights this afternoon. Solar lights need 24-48 hours to charge up so we will turn them on tomorrow night. Went to set up the blow up Santa I bought at clearanc sales last year only to find he is a remote control santa on wheels. We can't wait for Emily to come back tomorrow so Santa can come rolling out of the bedrooms and scare the s...t out of her. Pa had to go with her yesterday to sit on Santa's knee so she could get the book he was offering her. She is still scared of him but getting better.

Sue I couldn't help but to take another photo of my neo megan as she is showing even more pink. I think this is about photo#5 or #6 now but she keeps getting better and better so I just have to take one more.

I have invited a couple of new people to join this forum. I know that one couple have been reading but not ready to share yet so welcome Ray and Jenny from Hervey Bay. Look forward to your first entry.

Wendy

Oh I forgot to mention that we noticed Megan had 2 nice little pups starting to form..... yippee

Wendy

Hello again everyone. Karen, when you find out what that plant is I'm all ears. It's all a learning process isn't it. Jen, now I understand why some of those vrieseas are so bloomin' expensive. I'll be content with my baby vrieseas for now (& will start saving).
I've started keeping a record of my brom purchases as you recommended, (the expenditure tally is a rude shock!) but haven't yet collected the pics. In some ways I guess I didn't think it worth taking photos of them as pups, but then again, I get a lot of enjoyment looking at all the pictures everyone uploads on this blog, so I'll have to bite the bullet & get onto it...as soon as this infernal rain stops. (Every time we get a big downpour we get a pool in the backyard. Renovating & rain just don't mix sometimes).
Thanks Sue for the info on flower/pod pulling. So much to learn. The whole process, from pollination to name giving/registration, is more involved than I ever imagined. Very rewarding though I guess.
Once you've pollinated the plants do you have to quarantine them, to prevent any further bug cross-pollination? And I guess, with all this rain, you'd have to make sure the pollinated flowers didn't get covered with water in the funnel too, or does it not really matter?

Can anyone recommend some good brom books to read? I have purchased the booklet from the Catlan's which is great, but am eager for more.

Is there an open day at Olive's today? (Sunday). If there is, is anyone going?

All great photos folks. Very admiring (& envious) of all your goodies. Keep 'em coming.

Haydee

Sue I learned something new from our mentor regarding growing broms from seed. Apparently only species throw true seedlings which turn out to be identical to the parent plant. If pollun is collected from a hybridised plant and polinates a hybridised plant the resultant seeds could revert to any one or a combination of any of the parents used in previous generations of hybrids. I hope that is clear to you.

Anyhow that explains why our neo painted delight seedlings are so very different to any painted delight plants. It is because painted delight is already a hybrid so seedlings can take on patterns from any plants used to produce that range of hybrids. see the range in the photo.

Wendy