Bromeliads for novices and addicts, Jan-Feb 2011

hope everyone had a spectacular Australia Day. The best part is watching the vintage cars going past our front gate. We put our chairs on footpath, cup of tea in hand and flags waving from cars and balcony and just enjoy the show. Love it. Hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did.

I bought an aechmea echidna today. It even had 2 small pups about an inch high and the price was very good. I had previously bought one on ebay for $20 and it is much smaller and doesn't even have any pups yet. I'm very happy with my new one.

Wendy

I don't know who this is. The person it came from did mention it in passing, but it just kept going, in one ear and out the other. lol

Blanchetiana, thinking about flowering. It sure takes its time.

..and an Aechmea JC Superstar

And just because I finally got around to venturing out with the camera, the blanchetiana from a different angle

What an exceptionly beautiful place to live, Pam. Beautiful plants too. Colleen

Lovely photos everyone. Karen, thanks for the info about the Beenleigh Markets. I must get down and check them out. Wendy, we'll add it to our list of must-do excursions. Jen

Pam your JC certainly looks like a big one. I don't think ours ever got that big before flowering.

Jen I am tempted to say get me a Kiwi on Sunday but I am sure we have enough of them. I am very tempted though. Wish I could go with you this time. Maybe next time.

Did anyone watch that game of football tonight???? Legends of Origin with all proceeds going to Qld flood victims. What an enjoyable game. lots of laughs and I think a few bruised egos. They all thought it would be an easy game but I think they all realised it was a lot harder than they remember. An enterataining evening.

Wendy

>Pam your JC certainly looks like a big one. I don't think ours ever got that big before flowering.

It's just an illusion Wendy because of the angle it was taken from. The Beenleigh markets certainly sound like they're worth a visit. A bit far for me though. lol

Pam, love your plants and garden.

Karen

Thanks Karen. :) I did mention that most of my broms are in need of dividing. lol

wow gardengal- beautiful big broms, esp. that strippy red one jc superstar.

I saw a pic once where someone had JC Superstars lined up along the top of a retaining wall, all in flower, of course, and it was absolutely stunning. I resolved to do something similar, but it seems to have been one of those resolutions that fall by the wayside. Maybe one day. lol

You're an early riser too Pam I see. Good morning. Colleen

I find that you can never get broms to flower at the same time no matter what you do. If it does happen it is a fluke. I planted three small vriseas in a long thin pot. they were all approx same size and I expected them all to flower together. Today I put the pot out for sale with the middle one flowering but other two don't even look like they are ready to flower. Not sure if it will sell. I am sure if all 3 were flowering they would have gone today. I think I may be left with them unless I drop the price tomorrow. We'll see how it goes tomorrow.

Met a couple of new "friends" today. Both brom collectors who have promised to come back with pups to swap. One even came back this arvo with some pups and went away with a couple of new ones from us. He is happy and we are happy too. He brought us round 3 mini blanchetianas. They have a deep purple base with top looking like normal orange blanch but he says they only grow about half size of normal blanch. We'll see how they go and I will post a photo once we get them potted up.

Need my beauty sleep for busy sale day tomorrow. Nite all.

Wendy

The mini Blanchetiana sounds interesting Wendy. I'll look forward to seeing the pic.

Colleen, I do usually tend to rise around 5 .... what I wouldn't give to be able to sleep in, but if I stay in bed once I'm awake I simply get a back ache. I gave up even trying to sleep at 4am yesterday ... one of those nights where you wake up every couple of hours for no reason whatsoever. At 4am I was wide awake with no hope whatsoever of any more sleep, so groped around in the dark for some clothes and came to visit here. Strangely, no one was awake at Dave's either, so I was on my lonesome. lol

We drove the hour and a half to Hervey Bay yesterday to see if the tip shop had some sheet metal for the roof of a new gazebo we're building. With our beautiful big trees etc here, I didn't want nice shiny new zinc, it would have stood out like dogs ....... well, anyway, lol The people at the local centre don't seem to salvage a fraction of what they could, so there's never enough of anything to do anything serious .... the amount of good timber and metal that ends up simply as landfill is a real shame, and they won't let you get it for yourself. Anyway, we not only found some suitable roofing sheets, but I managed to score a manageable sized piece of fishing net in the thinner sized cord that I was looking for, didn't want the really chunky stuff, and a beautiful old metal wheelbarrow as well - someone has made an attempt at making a new tray for it out of sheet metal and given up. We'll make a new wooden tray for it and it will look lovely planted up with a few broms.

Actually, I love exploring the tip shop, but haven't been out there for ages. Have to get in early for the good stuff.

Wendy, looking forward to the mini blanch pic too. I didn't see it this morning.

Went to the Beenleigh markets early and got some nice broms, then over to Wendy and John's and got some more :). I am weak. I am really weak. But they are soooooo irresistible.

I have so been waiting to take this photo. The 3 Kiwi's together. Yes, I got Kiwi Dusk this morning.

Karen

I freaked when I moved the Kiwi Cream to find the biggest, ugliest spider taken up residence in it. Am afraid to move it back now.

I don't have names for the following. Shame we can only insert one photo at a time.

Karen

From the markets.....

This one from Wendy's this morning.....

This lovely one also from Wendy.....

A cheapie from the markets today. I love the purple in it.....

This message was edited Jan 29, 2011 9:43 PM

This Vr. from Wendy. It is one that was on my must have list.....

This message was edited Jan 29, 2011 9:45 PM

Karen, I love your Kiwis. Your bargains at the markets inspired me to go and have a look today. There weren't any Kiwi Sunsets left, only Dusk and Cream which I already have. Was almost tempted to get another one because they are such good value. I got this unknown Tillandsia and another one with soft leaves and pretty flowers. What a terribly unbotanical description! Sue? Wendy? Can anyone help out with the names? Jen
This is the Tillandsia noid.

And this is the other one.

I love that top pic Jen. Is that in the shadehouse or the garden?
Karen, you obviously had a very satisfying day. Now to find somewhere to put them all? lol

Pam

Hi Pam. Yes, very satisfying. It was a good day.

Jen, you were there before me. I could get there earlier on my own, but Barry is a slow starter and holds me up. I saw both of those there. The first wasn't for sale, so maybe he was holding it for you? Or maybe it was another one.

Wendy's was great. I could totally get lost there.

Karen

Karen thanks for the praise re our garden. It is an always evolving canvas for us as you know. The focus at the moment is always on the BSQ open day in a bit over 4 weeks.

Your first photo after the Kiwis could be neo fireball varigata as I said on Sunday. The second I'm sorry I can't remember what you got. The third is a small jewellery shop. The next is I think a tristes with the dep purple centre. The vrisea is flamea. I can't remember the order as I have already lost what I had typed when I scrolled back up so I hope I covered everything.

Jen I love your new plants.The first one could be tillandsia creation but I would have to see it. I love the orange flowering one. When you get pups I will definately be in for a swap. My tillansia Australis now has a couple of hair pups. They are still a bit small but soon ......

We now have lots of new seeds to sow so will be full of seedlings soon. Don't know where we will put them though. We might have to take over the backyard next door. Instead of mowing it we may have to water it LOL.

We started packing up yesterday at about 4.30. Advertised close was 4pm. At 6pm we were still helping visitors with selections. We were so tired and just wanted to put our feet up but had to cook tea for our son who turned up for Sunday roast. Had to settle for toasted sandwiches. This morning we had a couple of women who returned for more brom fix. What an exhausting weekend. What will 5th March be like I wonder?????? We handed out so many brochures over the weekend and everyone said they would be here on 5th. I think we may be very very busy. Everyone is invited to come.

Wendy

Thanks Wendy. I think the third one was also a small Vr.? I don't know if this pic is any clearer. For some reason the pics were over exposed.

I think your garden is totally amazing and a credit to you and John.

Karen


This message was edited Jan 31, 2011 4:21 AM

So Karen where are the pics you took of Wendy's garden?

Oooh, Pam, I didn't take any this time. But if Wendy doesn't mind, here is one from last time. This is a section of the magical front garden.....

Karen

Here is another view of the front garden.....

And another....

Thanks Karen. :)

The little red stoloniferous neo(?) on the pole, Karen or Wendy can you tell me what it is please? I discovered the other day that the tag from that one has gone from my shadehouse too. It MUST be the birds, as no one goes anywhere near it, I've never had a plant go missing, simply the tags. There's an ever increasing amount of noids out there - just a tad frustrating.

Pam

PS are the hangers on barbed wire or do they hold themselves up?



This message was edited Feb 1, 2011 7:40 AM

Oh, and whoo hoo. that's my brom fix for the next month. Must tell my son to go and have a look. Absolutely beautiful. Wish I could see it in person. Colleen

Colleen, isn't it just magical. And that is just one side of the front yard. Their whole yard is like it, front, back and sides.

Pam, Wendy would have to explain the different set ups they have. They use a couple of different methods but no barbed wire. There are totems, fish net "snakes" and coconut balls...... I could be wrong, but I think the pole is covered with Neo. Fireball. I've always loved that one.

This message was edited Jan 31, 2011 2:53 PM

Hi Pam . The mini neo on the totem in the frontyard is fireball. We do have barbed wire out the back with pots hanging from them. The bards keep the pots where you want them. Wherever we have pots hanging on normal wire we are always separating them to stop them breaking bits off each other.

Today I moved all nearly all my tills together onto one single shadecloth covered frame. I can't beleive I have amassed so many in a short time. I also have lots in hanging pots, in pots on shelves and on logs and things on bonsai tray pots. I also discovered that my till lindenii blue has a flower coming. The strictas are all starting to flower too and make lots of babies. Don't you love these gorgeous little gems of nature??? I know I do. It feels like waiting fo a baby to arrive. I promise a photo of lindenii when it finally gets here.

This photo is of a foliage vriesea we have called John's favourite. It is a John Buchanan hybrid which was given to a friend of ours in Cleveland who then gave us one of the pups. She also gave John Buchanan's son a pup years later. The other night I discovered that Buchanan jnr has a pup listed as Dad's favourite on ebay. Check out the price it is going for!!!!!!!! Jen and I are thrilled to know we have these pups in our collections. Right Jen?????

Wendy

perkepatch- see that stripped brom with the red sword flower in your last pic my dad has one and its very very slow to pup and the same brom re-flowers each year(i didnt know broms could do that?). The little yellow flowers that come out of the red sword are cute i think.
BTW love that Vriesea! look at my little guy, getting a little to much sun.

What a difference a bit of sun and a few weeks makes. My Alcantarea imperialis rubra that I'd mentioned was rather green when I pulled out of the shadehouse, pic taken 29 Dec.

And today, less than 6 weeks later.