BROMELIADS FOR NOVICES & ADDICTS MARCH 2012

Oh I forgot I had a lovely morning coffee and chat with Jen and picked up the plants brought back from Nev and others. I haven't hd a chance to pot themup yet or really study them but I already love some that Jen pointed out to me. As I get them potted up I will take pics to share with you all. Thanks Jen for a lovely break and chat.

Hi everyone,

Dawn – Yes that is a lot of Crypts, did you count them?

Wow! that inflorescence on the Till is massive for the size of the plant and your Kiwi Cream is looking good after re-potting. I didn’t have any luck with my Kiwi Cream, it put up this little “maggoty” looking little flower spike and then all the leaves started to die. The remains of the plant now has a reasonable looking pup so maybe that will do something in the future. I have been told that it’s a plant that must have room to grow and good air circulation around it, so maybe mine was a bit cramped and that’s why it didn’t do well.

Kristi – I’m not sure about the Crypt plants and I noticed that myself. Maybe they were immature plants when they were being mounted and the pic’s of the finished product were taken some time later. I can’t ask Chanin because of the language difficulties between us so we’ll just have to dream, although I think that’s a pretty common Crypt in Thailand as it seems to be growing in abundance in every pic I ever see of brom’s in Thailand.

I like your Dyckia flower; I don’t have any Dyckias myself, but from what I’ve seen of the few growing here locally, they all seem to have bright yellow or orange coloured flowers and do certainly add a splash of brightness to a group of plants.

Wendy – I thought you and Johnny would enjoy the “heart” and appreciate the amount of work that went into it as I know you did something similar mounting mini Neo’s on a fibre ball a while back although not quite as large.

Everything I’ve ever read about Cryptanthus has said that they must be treated as terrestrials and never mounted, so maybe it’s just the Thai climate that allows them to get away with mounting them there, but I don’t know if we would have the same success here. Maybe it would be a good project for you and Johnny to trial?

Those Bat Plants are certainly fascinating; do they grow from a bulb? I would love to have a couple but I was told a while back that our winter climate here wouldn’t agree with them and I’d be wasting my time.

I think the little pot figures are great and would certainly make a good saleable gift. Maybe you can employ your grand children and make Johnny the "Foreman of the Assembly Line." I’m glad you got your plants OK and I hope you like them.

I’ll finish with a few more of Chanin’s pic’s; No.1. is Chanin himself helping to set up the Annual Thai Bromeliad Show. 2, 3, 4, and 5, are again of the bromeliad section of the Noong Nooch Tropical Gardens of Thailand. No. 2. Shows how brom's can successfully be used with water to create a nice effect, No.3 Shows a nice combination of Guzmanias, vrieseas and Aechmea Fasciata, No.4. Shows just how effective a massed display of the common Aechmea Fasciata can look surrounding a nice potted variegated palm and No. 5 Shows a "wall" of neoregelias leading to the main entrance; truly "eye catching".


All the best, Nev.

Hi everyone. Potted up a few more pups yesterday, but the dilemah is, where do I put them? Nev I have put the Neo thunderbirdX avalon into the palm where the predator was. It looks good at the moment and I'm hoping that it will colour up beautifully now and get bigger. Well, I can't say that I don't fertile anymore as I gave the Mummas a dose when I took the pups and repotted them into new material. Very windy here this morning a a mist of rain out there too.

Wendy my sympathy to you and your family on the passing of your Dad. I hope that the rain stays away for you and that the funeral can take place as normally as possible. Colleen

Good morning everyone. Another of those wishy washy days, neither this nor that. Still, some showers are expected so have to cater for that.

Kristi, your Dyckia fragrans is really lovely. I haven't seen one in flower before and it really is pretty. Showing my ignorance further, I have never heard of white fly. Sweet nothings is about all my plants get too. They seem to manage OK on that though.

Wendy, looking forward to seeing what you and Jen got from Nev. May be able to do it in person soon, I hope. Will let you settle again after all that's happened first.

Nev, I love the colourful displays you see at shows, but they are hard pressed to beat those Thailand ones. They really know how to work with plants, don't they. I guess one day my Kiwi's will die back and have pups, so will just enjoy them at their different stages. I have the room to give each plant its space though I prefer the plants all together as they look so much better. If I had landscaping with rocks and water they would look OK as single features, but I don't . Suburban blocks don't give you a lot of space to work with, do they.

Colleen, you keep surprising us with your lovely broms. I like the idea of using the palm tree stumps. I have one here that would make a good home for a larger brom, but just need to get Barry to cut it down. Its huge, but its a Cocos palm, and grows like a weed, dropping seeds absolutely everywhere.

Can anyone suggest broms for rather shady places with low light? Barry is clearing another section of the fenceline, and the top half will get good morning sunlight, but the fence itself cuts off the light to the lower half. Add the shade of the trees to it, and it really is a dark corner.

Hope everyone has a lovely day. I'm off the the Hyperdome (which isn't all that exciting) to do what must be done there, and hopefully back in time for a relaxing afternoon.

Karen

Good morning everyone,

I’ve been feeling a bit crook the last few days with this rotten cold and continual coughing which has been so persistent my ribs are now all aching, so yesterday I went to the Doctor’s yet again. Would you believe this time he tells me I have pneumonia; so more bloody pills and X-rays etc. etc.

Colleen – It’s good to see someone can keep up with their pup re-potting, I wish I could say the same! Yes your Neo. Thunderbird x Avalon should colour up nicely given good light as both parents are reds; but then you never know as they are seedlings and the odd ones are turning up with spots, which is what makes hybridizing so interesting. I mean if you could accurately predict what each seedling would turn out like where would the interest and anticipation be?

They’re three nice looking plants you show there Colleen, but how about some names so we all know what they are and while you’re at it, tell us what you have on the floor, is it wood chips or mulch of some type? I was once able to get a good waste product for the floors of my shade houses which was a fine hardwood type chip from a mortising machine which they used to mortise fence posts. Unfortunately the owner of the timber yard had a daughter who bought herself a horse, and from then on she used it for the stable floor and I couldn't get any more.

Karen – You mention your large Cocos Palm; did you know that brom’s can successfully be mounted onto these as they have a rough enough surface for the roots to attach to. I once saw one in Southport many years ago and the owner had mounted mini Neo’s all around it and it looked fabulous. Unfortunately I was into growing orchids and not brom’s at that time, and never bothered to take a picture and I’ve been kicking myself ever since. The main thing to remember when mounting plants is that they must be firm and unable to move. If they can move they will not put down roots. The best thing to tie them on with are Pantyhose which I get pretty cheap from the $2 shop and use them for straining paint as well as mounting plants, although I think the girl behind the till thinks I might be wearing them as she always gives me that funny look. Once the plant has been tied on, the pantyhose can be hidden by draping them with a bit of “old man’s whiskers” and you would think it had been there forever.

You ask about brom’s for a shady aspect; personally I don’t think you can go past Nidulariums. Probably the most underrated brom’s of all; I don’t know why because they are easy to grow, don’t cost much, have a good range of colours in the flowers e.g. pinks, reds, purple and even gold and orange and the flowers last for months. You can get them with leaves of varying shades of green right through to burgundy as well as some with variegations.

Another option is some of the burgundy leafed Aechmeas such as Foster’s Favourite, Chianti var, Jean, Mirlo etc. as well as Aechmeas which have the discoloured leaves, i.e. burgundy beneath and green on top; plants such as Miniata Discolour, Purple Heart, Victoriana, Big Stuff etc. So there really is plenty to pick from for your situation.

As a suggestion, you could put the Nidulariums on the ground against the fence with the larger Aechmeas in between them, and hang the smaller Aechmeas along the fence above them. There really are a lot of options when you look at it.

That’s it for another day and I’ll finish with a few more of Chanin’s pic’s of the Noong Nooch Gardens.

All the best, Nev.

Hello again. Rains are supposed to be moving down from the north to reach Brisbane today. Hopefully, most of the water in them will be gone by the time they get here. Spare a thought for Wendy and John as they head up into it today. Be safe.

Nev, I have a challenging area to work with becoming available as Barry clears out the undergrowth a little at a time. I won't be able to plant broms at ground level, as during the rains, the back fence becomes a river, and everything washes away. So I was thinking of shelving at 3 levels in a V shape in the corner and a pole with plants hanging off it like I've seen at Wendy's. If I start about a foot off the ground it should work so long as debris can't get caught up in it. The dark loving plants would be on the lower shelves and sun lovers on the top shelves. First I need to shop around for suitable, affordable shelving.

I had a weird dream last night. In it, I got up early in the morning, went out to open the back door, and all my coloured broms had moved up the back ramp and were lined up as if waiting to get into the house. Wonder what it means?

Karen

Hi Karen and anyone else sitting on the sidelines,

Karen – I think all of those plants I suggested would still grow just as well in the spots you describe, I’d just beware of having galvanized shelving over the top of plants though, as any zinc leaching from it could harm the plants below. If the shelving were stepped, that would be fine.

To analyze your dream though would be a job for a professional, although I would interpret it as a warning about a lot of rain. Did the brom’s have rain coats and gum boots on?

Kristi - I was able to contact Chanin in relation to your question about the name of all the Cryptanthus in the big "heart" and he said that it is Cryptanthus 'Ley Rey'. The colour seems much brighter than it is in the plants in the BCR, but that's probably a climatic "thing".

I’ll finish with a few more of Chanin’s pic’s of the bromeliad section of the Noong Nook Tropical Gardens of Thailand.

All the best, Nev.

Hi everyone. I did come in yesterday and typed a post and went to send it and DG was off line so it wouldn't send. I can't even remember what i wrote now but I know that i said "Nev, you look after yourself" It was cool here yesterday but a bit early to tell what today will bring. Karen I was going to say that I thought that your broms were going to come in out of the weather. Sorry about not putting names to my pics but I just go out and take pics and then when I put them up I haven't got a clue what most of them are. In other words I've been lazy. Will try to rectify that for you Nev. Here's a pic of part of my back garden, no broms though. Colleen

Hello all. I am still popping in to read the chat and enjoy the photos.
Nev, those Thai gardens are so beautiful.
Makes one want to live there, but then half the other plants I love wouldnt like it .
Enjoy your broms everyone.
Mine are growing and still putting on pups, so I will have to move a few more around soon.
Jean.

Well, the heavy rains they predicted didnt reach us. They went out to sea. All we got was some nice showers. I think though my broms would like some drying out time before the next lot.

Jean, its nice to get pups from them, isn't it. You must enjoy your garden with its many flowers so much. It seems to be getting cool quite fast, so we could be in for a longer and colder winter this year. A challenge to some plants, I imagine.

Colleen, you have a lovely "jungle" there too. I wish I had soil here, instead of clay. I'd love to grow some flowers and bulbs. As things are though, everything just washes out in heavy rain as the yard gets so much run off from all directions, and sometimes its almost torrential.

Nev, I think much of the appeal of those gardens is the height the display goes to. I've never seen Usneoides grow so long.

Hello to anyone else popping in. Hope the weather and life in general is treating you all kindly.

Karen

Hi everyone,

We are home again ... but having trouble with our internet service, which is intermittent at best. I haven't had a chance to read the posts of the last 10 days or so and have to dash off to do some grocery shopping now. Hopefully, I will be able to get back on to the forum later today and catch up with all the posts and tell you about our week at Moore Park Beach ... maybe even some photos.

Anyway, hope everyone who was crook is better now. Must run

Shirley

hello all.
Nev look after yourself. Pneumnia is not a nice thing to have with the coughing etc. plenty of rest and stay warm. I love those pics you posted of Chanin's. I love the cascading usneoids. I think I might put some on the bottom of our circular tillandsia hanger so we can get that cascad effect. I also thought about those cryps on the heart and wondered how they would cope without a water supply. maybe a mini neo would handle the shape better. I'll have to see what I can do re a heart shape.
We took Emily's brians up to Hervey Bay and she gave the girl one to Uncle Paul cause they stayed at his place while up there and then gave the boy one to Aunty Pam for looking after grandad while he lived with her. The pot on top of both had a till tricolour in it and the one in the boy brian was nice enough to even throw up a flower spike so my sister was very pleased with it. It is now living on her verandah looking out to sea and Fraser Island. Hope it copes with the see breezes.

We had a last funeral today and the wake at the sporting club. It was a pretty good day but all I could think about was my box of new vriseas from Richard Harper. We gladly came home after lunch had a relaxing cuppa on the verandah (after we got changed of course) and then went downstairs and spent all afternoon potting up vriseas. There are some really nice ones which show good potential so Johnny is very pleased. Now we just have to find room to put them somewhere. I got Richard to send an extra box to our son Paul in Hervey Bay so he is looking forward to receiving his 5 vrisea seedlings too. Unfortunately they didn't arrive today so will be sitting somewhere all weekend locked up in a box. Itold Paul to give them a bit of sugar and water when he unpacks them on Monday (hopefully they will come then).

Pic is my new babies from Richard Harper. Just what we needed to come home to yesterday. a bit of sunshine on a rainy sad day.

Wendy

oops ... I forgot to resize the photos ... another post out there in cyberspace somewhere !!! Guess I'll start over ....


Hello again, finally caught up with my reading …

Thanks Nev for organising the fine weather while we were away ... you did pretty well with your order. Apart from a showery Sunday, the rain held off until Wednesday arvo/evening, when it dropped more than 6 inches overnight and we made a hasty departure.

Also, I would really appreciate any info you have on grass pups if you wouldn't mind sending it to me, thanks.

I love the photos of the Nong Nooch Tropical Gardens. We actually visited the gardens in July 2010 and they are truly spectacular. I will try to find some of the photos we took.

Also, you must look after yourself and follow your Drs advice … that’s a pretty serious infection you have.

Hi also to Karen, Kristi, Jean and Jen and anyone else out there. Has anyone heard from Tash … I hope she has fully recovered by now.

Wendy, you posted while I was retyping and resizing. Very sorry to hear about your dad, you really are having a bad trot. Pleased to hear that everything worked out well in Hervey Bay and you are now back in Brisbane safe and sound, though you are probably totally exhausted. Like Nev, I like to think our loved ones go to a better place when they pass.

Anyway, our trip to Moore Park Beach went well. It is a lovely little place, very quiet, a great place if you are looking to vege out for a few days. As I said earlier, we were very lucky weatherwise. Hervey Bay copped torrential rain while we were there but it missed us altogether. It was raining in Brisbane when we left on Wednesday but cleared a little bit later and we had lovely fine and very hot days Thursday, Friday & Saturday. Saturday night we had rain and on Sunday we had showers which was disappointing as I was looking forward to the market … thought I might get some broms, but very few stall holders turned up to what is normally a very popular market.

On Monday we took a day trip up to Agnes Waters and Town of 1770. We were a little worried it might rain but it turned out to be another lovely day, as was Tuesday. Wednesday afternoon it started to rain and overnight Moore Park received more than 6”. We left Thursday morning to come home and were lucky to get through as the road between Moore Park and Bundaberg was underwater in several places.

Apparently Brisbane had a lot of rain while we were away so we were very lucky to get so much fine weather … thanks again Nev for putting in a good word. And that reminds me of Wendy's gum ... try wrapping it in foil after opening, that should stop any sweating.

Anyway, I’ll close with some photos …1st one is ‘the beachfront at Moore Park’, in front of the caravan park, the 2nd is ‘the kids playing on the beach’ … the big one is ours, the 3rd is ‘the Town of 1770 – Capt Cooks landing place’, the 4th and 5th are photos we took of Nong Nooch Gardens in 2010 … ‘one of the cacti gardens’ and one of an elephant made from small terracotta pots wired together. They have many of these sculptures, all of them brilliant.

Bye for now, Shirley

Good morning everyone,

Colleen – That’s a very interesting looking corner of the yard in your pic, but it probably needs continuous work to keep it up to speed so why not rip it all out and make a nice big shade house and just fill it up with brom’s? I like the nice apricot/peach colour of your Brugmansia, I’d really like to have a Neo that colour; wouldn’t it look great?

Jean – I think Thailand would be a bit like Bali, OK for a holiday, but not really a good place to live after living here in the best country in the world (I know I’m “one eyed”) but I have been overseas four times now so I know what I’m talking about; I’ve been to Bali, Tasmania, Kangaroo Island, and Stradbroke Island........ Ha! Ha!

They do have beautiful gardens though and not just brom’s. Apparently the King of Thailand loves flowers and the people love him; so everyone goes out of their way to make the place look beautiful. The pic’s I’ve been showing are just of the bromeliad section which although it is in massive shade house; it is just one tiny part of the whole gardens. To see the gardens in their entirety you need to look at the 12 or so pages of pic’s at: http://www.google.com.au/search?q=nong+nooch+tropical+gardens&hl=en&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=myRsT6HbBamyiQfOnvHYBQ&sqi=2&ved=0CF8QsAQ&biw=1272&bih=843 They are well worth a visit and real “eye openers”.

You say your brom’s are growing and putting up pups; I hear the same story from everyone I speak to. I personally have never seen such a year for pups in my own collection and I put it down to the “magic stuff” in all the rain we’ve been having; it’s a pity we can’t bottle it.

Karen – I agree with you about the height of the shade house in the pic's I've been posting, I know the experts always tell us to make our shade house roofs as high as possible for the best results, but the Thai people really take them literally and I believe this one is thirty five feet high in one place and fifty feet in another, and that’s a high shade house!

Just because you have clay soil is no reason for not having a nice garden; I remember years ago when my brother first got married and built a house at Seven Hills in NSW, the soil was like concrete. It was just hard packed clay which after about three drought years had become virtually impossible to dig, in fact the builder's labourers were breaking pick handles digging the footings (the good old days when things were done by hand). But after twelve months of painstaking work, a little at a time and many many ute loads of wood shavings and fowl manure dug into it (there were a lot of poultry farms in that area then and they gladly gave you the chook poop free just to get rid of it). He just kept digging and turning it over and added some lime and gypsum as well until he finally finished up with a good fertile vegetable garden in the back yard and a wonderful show of exhibition Dahlias second to none in the front yard.

Another option which doesn’t require as much work is to build the beds on top of the hard stuff with a timber surround (such as old railway sleepers or bits of trees) to contain the soil (which you would have to bring in from a garden centre) but it isn’t as expensive as it sounds because when you buy garden soil in bulk it’s really quite reasonably priced and you can do a little bit at a time.

Shirley – Glad to see you back again and I hope you had a good time. I’m pleased my order for fine weather was partly filled at least.

The first of your pic's looks identical to what we know as South Beach here in Shellharbour and as for your “kids” playing; ..... Well I can remember the same thing on South Beach before we were married when our two dogs used to do the same thing. We had a black and white dog called “Whiskey” that would try and eat the white foam on the water and another little brown dog called “Bonnie” who would just stand in the water up to the top of her shoulders until the last of a wave would come in and then she would face the shore and swim like buggery and “body surf” in and onto the sand.

Although not really my “thing” I think the Cacti look great, but in my opinion the star of the show is the amazing elephant made from terracotta flower pots, very imaginative and most unusual!

Wendy – Good to see you and Johnny back safe and sound, now you can put your feet up for bit and relax before you get stuck into your plants again, and I’m pleased that Emily’s “Brians” have both found good homes.

Yes I had also wondered about the Crypts (by the way Crypt. 'Lee Rey' was the name) and watering, and thought maybe an automatic irrigation system; but I’ve since been told that everything is hand watered as required, which isn’t very often due to the high humidity.

That’s a nice collection of Vrieseas to come home to isn’t it? Richard’s breeding some nice stuff and I remember way back when he first started posting pic’s on the forum of his little seedlings and I told him he would need to extend his shade house in the future. From what I’ve heard about his set up I’m now sure he definitely would have needed to. I wouldn’t worry too much about Paul’s Vrieseas being in the mail over the weekend as I’ve found that they travel the best of all brom’s, even though they look like they wouldn’t, and a soak in the "magic sugar mix" will certainly "pep" them up.

That’s it for another day and I’ll finish with a few more of Chanin’s pic’s of the Noong Nooch Gardens.

All the best, Nev.

Good morning on this nice sunny cloudy morning. The weekend is underway, yey! What adventures will we get up to this weekend?

Wendy, you and Johnny really need a nice relaxing weekend, but it sounds like you'll be potting and rearranging plants again.

Shirley, that elephant sculpture is amazing. Some people are just so creative! So glad you had a good break away. That beach looks lovely.

Nev, hope you are taking your medicine and nursing that infection. Pneumonia can be tricky and mustn't be messed with. The pics are wonderful and one day I would hope my brom garden looks something like a display. I've run out of money to do the next bit, but hopefully I'll be able to move on soon.

My computer is being stubborn this morning and not downloading pics, so I'll wish you all a great day and bow out gracefully.

Karen

Hi everyone. Nev the floor in the SH has weed matting and pine chips on it. I went out yesterday and took a few more pics. One especially is Neo "Debbie" with 2 nice pups. I haven't seen this one anywhere else so was wondering if the name is true. I've had it for a couple of years, one of the starters in my collection. Nev I can't put the new SH over in that corner of the garden as that's where the memory garden for my son is. It has lots of different plants in there and only yesterday I planted sweet peas, canterbury bells and black and white fluffy poppies. I still have some more seeds to spread through there as yet. By Spring time the garden is usually full of flowers. I think it looks lovely, but it might not be everyone's cup-of-tea. Pics below are. Neo debbie, Neo Raphael, Neo Luxurians and Ae. Burgundy. Hope all are well. Colleen

Hello again,

just a very quick post tonight. Love the brom photos, all of them. Thought I might attach some more photos of the terracotta pot "sculptures" in the Nong Nooch Gardens as we thought they were really amazing ...

Wendy, those are lovely vrieseas ... neos are still my favourite but vrieseas are running a very close second.

We have lots of work to catch up on after being away, I wonder sometimes if it's worth it. The lawn grubs went beserk while we were away and there are large areas of brown in the lawns. I also had a few plants chewed to bits by caterpillars (not broms) and the weeds have grown very quickly. I had hoped to get stuck into the shadehouse makeover now that it has cooled down a bit but unfortunately there are higher priorities. Anyway ... we'll get there eventually.

Shirley

Hi everyone,

Karen – Yes I am taking my medication, in fact I’m taking so many bloody pills I’m rattling! I seemed to come good for a couple of days but last night I was pretty breathless again and had to spend the night in my lounge chair as every time my head hit the pillow I started coughing, but I imagine these things take time and I’m pretty impatient as I have so much I have to do.

I’m sure one day your brom garden will look like a display; however, unfortunately you are suffering from the same problem as a lot of us also have, called LOAF (Lack Of Available Funds)

Colleen – I’m so sorry I suggested ripping out your garden in the corner for a shade house as I had no idea it was a memory garden for your son, and I’m sure your new plantings will look just great when they all flower and I’d love to see another picture of them then.

I like your four pic’s, however I have doubts about “Debbie” being correctly named. It doesn’t look like mine and the colour doesn’t seem right nor do the leaves, which should be overlapping each other. However, having said all of that, it could still be the result of not having enough light. Where was it growing? If you look at the site below it has a good pic of Neo ‘Debbie’ and what it should look like:
http://bromeliad.org.au/pictures/Neoregelia/Debbie.htm

I spent part of yesterday sorting out your plants and I will get them in the post for you on Monday as well as the Tree Fern and Bird's Nest Fern. I also have to send Jean a Tree Fern and some "bits and pieces" as well; although I suspect she thinks I’ve forgotten, but I just get things done much slower these days. There are a few other parcels for other “brom mates” also, and hopefully I’ll get them all posted off on Monday too.

Shirley – I know what you say about other priorities holding up your shade house construction, I seem to have the same problem and am still trying to finish a “make over” I started some months back, however I tend to now follow the old saying of “slow and steady wins the race”.

Those terracotta sculptures are truly amazing aren’t they? It’s a pity we don’t all still use terra cotta pots, otherwise that would be a good way of storing them and crating a feature at the same time

I’ll finish with a few more of Chanin’s pic’s of the Noong Nook bromeliads.

All the best, Nev.

P.S. Sorry if the pic's seem a bit small, but this is the second time I've tried to post these; when I posted them previously, DG "ate them"!!! I expect they weren't small enough so I've reduced them even more.

Hi everyone. Nev, my "Debbie" has been grown in a shady part of the SH so had better introduce the pups to some sun and see what we come up with. All the beautiful VR. that I got a while back have lost some of their colour as well because I thought that they might not like to be put straight into our harsh Summer Light. I will gradually bring them into full light. I wonder if we could find a half a dozen little helpers for a few days. That would make things easier on us wouldn't it? A couple of housekeepers would suit me and then I could spend all day out there. I potted up a few more pups yesterday. I think I need a Mumma part of the SH now. Might see what I can do about that today before they get all mixed up again. Well the boys want their brekkie so had better move. Colleen

Hi everyone

Well, that’s another weekend over. We didn’t get a lot of rain but we didn’t see much of the sun either and it’s getting quite cool now in the evenings.

Thanks Nev for the links to the forum discussions on grass pups. I haven’t had a chance to read them all as yet but I most certainly will. I have quite a few grass pups growing on my very young glaziouana.and geniculata alcantareas but I have never tried to remove them. I remember being told to leave them on the parent plant ‘until they are as thick as your finger’ and I haven’t had any reach that stage as yet. Can you please tell me at what size you remove any grass pups on your plants and what mix you plant them in ?

Wendy, I love your bat plant. I have seen them for sale many times and have been tempted but have been told they are quite difficult to grow. Do they die back altogether in winter ?

Colleen, love the photo. You must be kept very busy. I totally agree that a few little helpers would make it easier and like you, I’ll let them take care of the housework while I spend the day pottering about in the garden. Mind you, a few strong and willing helpers wouldn’t go astray in the yard either … I could put them to work on the shadehouse.

That’s about it from me for tonight, hope everyone has had a good weekend.

I will attach a couple of photos of my broms which do have names - No 1 is Silverado, No 2 is Camelot

Shirley

Hi everyone, what a nice fine and sunny morning it is here today; it’s so fine I can even hear the brom’s growing!

Colleen – The fact that your Neo. ‘Debbie’ looks different to the ones in the pic’s is obviously due to the low light then. I had forgotten all about your renovations and the fact that you had to move things around, and you certainly did the right thing to get them out of the hot sun. As the sun has now lost most of its heat, it’s a good time now to start re-introducing them gradually to more light and it will be no time at all when you will be looking at all the great colours again.

Yes a couple of little helpers would certainly not go astray, I thought maybe you could train your monkeys to lend a hand instead of just sitting there looking like they’re thinking about some mischief to get into.

As for the “mother plants”, I just put mine in a spot over beside the fence out of the direct sun. They still produce pups OK and don’t take up valuable bench space.

I think your picture is priceless; every boy should always have a dog, it gives them some responsibility of caring for something, and it’s a mate that’s always there to comfort them and play with them. I can’t ever remember not having at least one dog right back as far as I can remember, and to this day I would never be without one. In fact an English bloke said to me in a horrified voice a while back, “Oh you let your dog in the house”. My answer to him was, “I’d sooner have my dog in the house than a lot of people I know” and what’s more if they’re looked after properly, they’re often a bloody sight cleaner than a lot of people are too.

Shirley – Regarding grass pups, I usually remove them when they are about as thick as a pencil, but then I’m no expert. Some of the better known growers of Alcantareas especially those in the tropics remove them when they are just the size of a match. I think if I did that here they would die as it gets pretty cold here in the winter, but up in the tropics the don't have that problem. Up there, they can plant a nail and grow a “crowbar”.

As for a potting mix, the last lot I took off were planted in 50% Brunnings Cymbidium Orchid mix and 50% Coco-Peat mulch and they are really growing well. I’m told also that they can take more fertilizer than other brom’s, but then that’s an individual thing you have to trial yourself.

I like your pic’s; and I especially like a mature Neo ‘Silverado’ when it gets that silvery cast over the leaves, I think it’s most attractive and unusual. I have another Neo incorrectly called ‘Shadow’ (and it’s nothing like the pic on the BCR so probably a NOID just given a “pet name”. However it seems to have that same silvery cast over the tops of the leaves when mature and is most attractive. (A pup is on its way to you Colleen). Neoregelia ‘Camelot’ is always a popular plant and a good grower and producer of pups as well.

I’ll finish with a few more of Chanin’s pic’s but this time they are of a Thai Bromeliad Show, and I bet the Neo’s will make your mouth water. Unfortunately I don’t have the names, but it can at least show you the quality of the Neo’s they are breeding in Thailand

All the best, Nev.

Hi everyone. Lovely day here today. Nice pics again Nev. Shirley lovely pic of Camelot. I have that one but don't have Silverado. Haven't done much in the garden today as I had to wash, go down the street, and move some succulents up to the back of the back yard onto a bench and pinch their tiered bench for my broms. Now I have to make room in the SH to put the bench. lol I wish I could just wave a magic wand sometimes and everything would be done, but no, I would have as much fun would I? I hope that you're okay Karen, or is it the computer that's not well. Wendy probably is taking it easy now after all the happenings of the past week or so. Tash has got lost over on FB and so has Sue. Anyway I must go now as we've just come back after having Branden's asthma check. They have just upped his dose of Seratide for 3 weeks and then they'll do more tests. See you all tomorrow. Colleen

Hi everyone, sorry I've been quiet. Just off doing other things. I am well Colleen, thank you. Hope everyone else is too, including you Nev. Hope those meds are doing their job.

Colleen, that pic is one to treasure. I treasure all my family pics, but sometimes you get one that you want to share with the world, and that is one well worthy of sharing. Hope they get Branden's meds sorted, especially with winter coming.

Shirley, those are lovely broms you have there. I've always been drawn to the silvery neos but they always seem to be large growers, which I don't really have space for.

Nev, aren't we seeing some bromeliad triumphs from overseas hybridizers. There are some really to die for on FB lately.

We went down to walk by the bay today, in need of fresh sea air. I found a bromeliad plant that had been tossed out and of course, being me, I had to bring it home. It is soaking the salt out at the moment, and I'll see if it perks up before I am sure I'll keep it. Its just a smallish plant, plain green, with purple at the base of each leaf. Nothing spectacular. If it survives, it has a home here, if not, I've lost nothing in trying.

All the best to everyone.
Karen

Hi everyone. Nev I love all those pics from Chanin. I especially love all those big round raised pots on the posts. Don't they make a wonderful show when full of the same plant?

We had a bit of a break but have been back into it since Friday afternoon. We certainly had fun potting up those vriseas and drooling over them. But that just made one big problem ...... where to put them???? the vrisea area has now been extended to cover down one side of the centre shelf space. All the neos and other plants had to be moved out so we started setting up our tables for a sale next weekend. We decided to sell off most of the full grown neos removed from the shelf for the vriseas. The neos are now cleaned up, priced and sitting on the sales tables while the vriseas look great in their new home. We are also starting to get lots of vrisea pups potted up too. Lots to sell soon.

Well the first people to arrive at our sale next weekend will certainly be able to take home some really great bargains. Some pots on the tables have up to 4 good sized plants in them. Johnny has most of them priced at only $8 but I snuck $10 on some of them that I thought were just too good to be $8. Anyway first come will be able to take away some really nice plants for a very good price. Shirley are you still coming on Friday to check out what we have??? hope you have lots of room in your car cause you will be unable to resist some of the bargains. Hope to see you. Jen is bringing some of hers over tomorrow to set out on the tables also. Unfortunately M&M have advertised a sale same weekend so I will have to miss theirs again. Ah well, people will be able to kill 2 birds with one stone and visit both places. Hope they visit ours first as they will get more for their buck as they say.

Shirley you have made me want to visit Thailand now just to see the gardens, broms and statues. I love the shape of the broms grown in Thailand. They seem to get much nicer form over there.

Colleen I love the 2 neos you posted. We have both of those. I was going to post a pic of a huge silverado that my son has in the ground in Hervey Bay. I didn't realise it was the same as our silverados till it was identified by the experts on FB. He obviously got a pup from us and didn't bother keeping the name tag with the plant. It was so huge I didn't even think of silverado. We now have one in the large hanging basket on the ground and it has grown much bigger than others we have grown in smaller pots. So plant it with lots of room for root growth and you will get a bigger plant. We now plant pups into the pot size the full grown plant with need. Even though we have good intentions to pot up as the pant grows we never seem to get around to it so we pot up at step one.

Late again so I must be off to bed again. Always seem to be doing that when talking to you guys. must get on DG earlier in the evening.

Night all ..... oh pics are of one of our favourite neos. fury. In good light and even sunshine you get some stunning colours in this plant.

Wendy

Hi everyone, looks like another nice fine, sunny morning so I think I’ll just poke around the plantation for a while and see what’s new since my last visit.

Colleen – When you have brom’s it always seems to be a case of finding room for something doesn’t it? I’ll walk around my place and see a Neo or two with nice big pups that need taking off; the trouble is, when you do this and have them all nicely potted up you’re then faced with the dilemma of where you can put them.

Karen – Those Neo’s you see the pic’ of from Thailand are certainly beautiful with their multiple layers of leaves and the same can be said of Neo’s from Hawaii as well. I'm told it has to do with the climatic conditions and they just keep on adding leaves and more leaves and so it goes. The down side to this is, that it takes them longer to flower and to produce pups, so you see for every plus there is a minus. I often wonder how much better a lot of our seedlings would look if they were grown in those countries and under similar conditions.

It will be interesting to see just what the little Neo you found turns out like. I remember back when I was just starting out with brom’s a lady a couple of doors away was cleaning up her garden in preparation to sell her house and in a wheel barrow I spotted a couple of green leaved Neo’s. She said they were being tossed as they “did nothing” and “were only ever green”. I asked if I could have them to which she agreed and after a couple of years in a well lit position, they produced a few pups which turned out to be quite attractive, compact, and well shaped plants with nice dark purple centres, so I guess there’s a lot of truth in the saying of “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure”. Obviously she had them stuck away in a dark corner of the garden and it only took a bit of good light to bring out the best in them.

Wendy – It’s interesting to hear what you say about your son’s Neo Silverado planted in the ground. I have also found that Neo’s planted in the garden will be almost double the size of the same plants grown in pots. I think this is largely due to the fact that when in the ground they have the choice of sending their roots anywhere until they find just what they like. On the other hand, plants in a pot just have to be content with what we provide for them which isn’t always to their liking.

I have gone the opposite way to you when potting up pups and I now pot them in a smaller size pot than I did previously as I have found down here in my area, they put down roots about six months quicker than they did previously in the larger size pots, so I guess it’s all about growing conditions and what suits one grower doesn’t necessarily suit another.

I like your pic’s of ‘Fury’ and it really highlights the important part that light plays with the leaf colour of Neo’s and is a great example when trying to make this point to new growers.

I’ll finish with a few more of Chanin’s pic’s (unfortunately no names available) and I'll start of with a very large Aechmea which Chanin is positioning on the show table, the other four plants are of Tillandsias in the same show; I mean, I have to give the “Tilly” growers among you something to drool over as well, don’t I?

All the best, Nev.

Hi all, just a quickie this morning … lots to do today.

We started out with a nice sunny morning but already the clouds have come over to spoil it and a few spots of rain as well.

Yes Wendy, we are still coming on Friday and sounds like we had better be early to get the best of the bargains. See you then … looking forward to it.

Pic is Manoa's Beauty

Shirley

Lucky you Shirley, wish I could come too. Hi everyone hope you're all well. Plenty of work still to do and the boys will be home soon. It never ends does it? Got the tiered bench cleared and off the verandah and nearly into the SH but not quite. Where am I going to make room for it? Hang it from the roof I think. only joking. It's been a beautiful day here today. Hope it stays like this for the weekend. We're going to a BBQ on Sunday if the weather's fine. Should be lots of kids for the boys to play with. Must go 3pm and time to get the boys. Have a great day. Colleen

Hi. we had a lovely sunny day here this morning although a bit cool at first. But around lunch time the wind picked up. we were worried about the split tree next door which was swaying so much in the wind we thought it was going to split completely and fall on the shadecloth above Johnny's vriseas. We didn't want that so we bit the bullet and took the chainsaw over to cut it down before the wind could do it. What a job. I had to be on the end of the rope as Johnny cut the fist branch. I felt the weight let go so I thought the branch was coming towards me until a sudden gust of wind had it pulling back the other way. I really thought I was going to lose it the other way but just then the wind died again and back it came towards me. I just had to jump back out of the way for it to land in front of me. My hands will never be the same again. Rope burns are not nice. Anyhow after 2 loads to the dump we now have lovely sunshine in the vrisea area. However the clouds came over this afternoon so we weren't able to really judge the level of sun now. Will see tomorrow.

Nev tomorrow I will take a pic of a couple of hula girls up the back. One lot was planted up into 8inch pots while another lot are in 6inch pots. I will put them together in a pic to show the different sizes achieved.

I have been waiting for a tillandsia I have coming into flower. It is labelled as till. whiskey but I can't find any till or silver vrisea with a name of whiskey. I wanted to post the pic of the flower but today I discovered that something has bitten the top completely off the infloresence. wonder how long it will take to raise a new one to infloresence stage so I can get an ID. If anyone has heard of a till called whiskey please let me know. It looks very much like a fasiculata but a large one with thin leaves not the fatter ons.

Must see if FB is working yet. it has been freezing on me all night.
Pic is aechmea shining light. we have one of these in flower on the sales table for this weekend.

Wendy

Hi everyone, a bit of a change in the weather this morning and the rain is back with us once again. It looks like I’ll have to spend the day on the computer doing a job I’ve been putting off “forever”, and that is, getting an up to date list of my brom’s together.

Shirley – I’ll bet you’re looking forward to visiting Wendy and Johnny on Friday. There’s nothing as good as visiting other “brom people” and discussing plants with each other. It’s even better when there are plants to buy as well so best you break open the “Piggy Bank” before you go.

That’s a great example of a well grown Neo ‘Manoa Beauty’ you have posted. It’s a beautiful plant and extremely well grown. Whatever you’re doing to your plants, keep doing it as that’s a great example of this particular plant.

Colleen – Yes, I guess like me you will just have to "wish" that you could go to Wendy and Johnny’s with Shirley.

I’m sure you have enough imagination to find a place to put your tiered stand, and while you’re doing it your mind will be thinking of how you can create more space for the next lot of plants.

I hope the weather turns out OK for you for the Sunday BBQ and I’m sure the boys will have a great time and won’t want to leave. You may even be able to convert a few of your friends to brom growing, who knows?

Wendy – If you’re going to go into the tree felling business, you must follow rule No.1 and that is never use a chain saw or any other means to cut down a tree in the wind, it can be extremely dangerous and in some cases even fatal! But then I expect it would be no different if my brom’s were threatened by the possibility of a falling branch either. I hope you haven’t upset your neighbour too much by cutting down his tree, but then it’s possible he didn’t know how dangerous it was unless he looked at it from your side of the fence.

I had a neighbour who has now move but still owns the house next door. He and his wife are lovely people but have absolutely no garden sense whatsoever and they have every noxious weed in Australia growing in their yard. Now that they have moved away these things are taking over and now they’re coming into my yard as well so I expect I’ll have to have a word to him when I see them next.

I’ll look forward to seeing the pictures of your Vr. Hula Girl plants, but please don’t get me wrong about what I said yesterday, I wasn’t questioning what you said regarding the pot sizes, I was just making the point that pups grow roots quicker down here if they are grown in a smaller pot. Different climatic conditions require different cultures and what works for you doesn’t necessarily work for me.

Re. You Till. ‘Whiskey’, sorry I can’t help as I’ve never heard of it and I suspect that's because the name isn’t registered, it may just be a grower’s ‘pet name’. I’ve had a similar thing happen to me three years in a row with a Till someone gave me. This particular plant seems to attract "Katydids" and although the plants on either side can be in flower at the same time, they never seem to get eaten. I never knew what the culprit was until Jack Koning told me what he thought it was and I should go out and have a look at about 9.00 o’clock at night, and sure enough there they were, all three of them having a little “chewing party”. For anyone here who hasn’t seen one of these little “rodents”, I’m posting a pic so you know what to look for. Size wise they are about 2 inches long and have a flatter body than a grass hopper.

Your Aechmea ‘Shining Light’ really looks nice, I have a couple but unfortunately they don’t look anywhere near as nice as yours do as mine suffer terribly when the cold weather hits us and they finish up with spotting from the cold all over their leaves.

I’ll finish now with a pic of a "Katydid" as promised, it is on a finger to give an idea of the size. After this are the final few of Chanin’s pic’s from Thailand; and this time they are of some Aechmeas in the same Bromeliad Show as I posted yesterday.


All the best, Nev.

Oooooh, Nev, that brom in the last pic that the men are gazing on, it is gorgeous.

It must be "War on Critters" week. Last night, about 2am, I was disturbed by a noise I couldn't pinpoint, so I went out, and for a moment, thought my bird had come out to play in the middle of the night. I saw a shadow move, and went to get her, only to find there were, not one, but three mice in the cage. I leave the door open overnight, so that is how they got in. I quickly shut the door and moved the cage outside, opened the door, and after some convincing they eventually all got out and ran off into the night. This morning I had the cage down the back, scrubbing it insanely.

My broms are looking really happy at the moment due to the great weather - not hot, not cold. We even had some overnight rain, so they don't need watering. I don't need to do anything but stand back and admire at the moment.

Wendy, my tillandsias aren't doing much flowering, but there are quite a few pups forming, which is great news. I don't think we'll get down this weekend. Barry is coming down with something which means he's already passed it on to me though I show no signs of it yet. We aren't married, so "for worse" should not apply!

Take care everyone.
Karen

Hi all,

Once again, we started out the day here with a lovely sunny morning that turned cloudy and then it absolutely poured rain around 11:00 o’clock, fortunately it didn’t last long.

We have been without electricity most of the day as Energex is replacing power poles in the area. Even though we were advised well in advance of the outage, it is very inconvenient … especially since we don’t have a town water supply and without power, we have no pumps and with pumps, we have no water. It was after 5:00 pm before the power supply was restored.

Wendy, we have had a few trees cut down over the years, always by professional tree cutters. We recently decided we could remove a smallish one in the back yard ourselves. I was on the rope while Michael used the chain saw. It fell just where we planned but a slight wind turned the rotary clothes hoist around so that one of the arms was in the way of the tree as it fell and did considerable damage to my Hills Hoist … very tricky business this tree felling. Anyway I am really pleased you didn't get badly hurt and I hope your rope burns heal quickly.

Yes Nev, I am really looking forward to visiting Wendy and Johnny on Friday. I figure by turning up a day early I won’t have to fight off as many other buyers to get the best bargains … we women love a sale, you know. LOL I have been saving my pennies in anticipation of the sale and I am also looking forward to meeting another forum member. And besides, I really NEED to buy more broms as I am fast running out of photos to attach to my posts so I just have to buy more … that's my story and I’m sticking to it !!

Karen, around here at the moment it’s the critters that seem to be winning the war. I have had so many of my plants munched by caterpillars, especially some lovely euphorbia millii and while we were away they devastated my topiary figs. There are also lots of grasshoppers, lawn grubs, mealy bugs, aphids, all of them making a meal out of the garden. Fortunately, I have not had anything attacking my broms, so that’s good … and another reason to buy more.

Anyway, that’s about it from me. Since I am short of new broms to photograph, I am going to attach photos of some of my favourite areas of the garden. You won’t see any broms as we did most the the gardens many years ago (well before my brom fever took hold) and we planted mostly tropicals … palms, cycads and lots of crotons. I still have all my broms in pots where I can keep a close eye on them and admire them constantly.

Bye, Shirley

Hi everyone - Well after all my good intentions and the work I was going to do on the computer yesterday, it all turned out to be a bit of a “fizzer” and nothing got done. I’ve had this bit of pneumonia for a week or two now and yesterday I got these uncontrollable bouts of coughing. I have never coughed so much in my life and my ribs are still aching.

About lunch time I remembered a cough suppressant we used when I worked in the ambulance in the steelworks in the early seventies. It was simply called “Mist. Tussi” and was marvellous stuff; it would stop you coughing almost immediately but you could only have two doses in twenty four hours as it was supposed to be addictive. (We were never told why) Suddenly we stopped getting it and an alternative was provided in its place which was never as good. We were never really told why it was stopped and the blokes all reckoned it was because the steelworks had found a cheaper alternative.

Anyway my wife was going shopping yesterday and I asked her to ask our chemist who we know quite well, if he had any “Mist Tussi”. Apparently the story was that it was taken off the market some years ago as the junkies were abusing it because it contained a tiny amount of morphine. However he had a substitute called “Senega and Ammonia” which was almost as good. My wife got a bottle and I must say I haven’t coughed since I took the second dose. So if any of you have a coughing problem, give it a try, it does the job, but be warned it does taste like s...t) Sorry to get away from brom’s, but I thought as a few of us have been getting crook lately this info was worth passing on.

Karen – Those two men in the pic you are referring to are the judges, and I must say they don’t look too happy, I think they are having a hard time picking a winner.

You speaking about mice, reminded me of an incident that occurred when I grew orchids; at one time a lot of the professionals used “rice hulls” in the orchid mix as it was a free waste product and was good for drainage. The only problem was it attracted mice and worse still, sometimes rats. They would dig down into the pots looking for any grain that was still on the hulls and make a terrible mess. I don’t need to tell you that we quickly stopped using rice hulls in the mix. It was only recently that one of our members had come to a meeting about this great idea he was told about to improve drainage, you guessed it, “rice hulls”. Fortunately I was able to relate my experience with this product which quickly stopped anyone from trying it.

I hope Barry gets over his bug quickly, and why don’t you get a bottle of Senega & Ammonia just in case he gets the coughs.

Shirley – Yes I think it’s got to the stage where we all take electricity for granted, and it isn’t until something like this happens that reality hits, and we realise just how lucky were are to have such a reliable service compared to other countries. The other night we had a “black out” here for a couple of hours (a car crashed into a power pole) which sent us ferreting through drawers and cupboards looking for a torch, and it was while we were sitting in the dark we realised just how lucky we really are as I can’t remember the last time we had a blackout. Seems to me your only answer is a "back-up" diesel motor for your pump for times like this, but does the amount of blackouts you get really warrant the expense?.

Yes Shirley, buy all the brom’s you want; remember the saying of all brom growers, “there’s always room for one more”.

Wow! how big is your block Shirley? Plenty of room for more brom's in amongst the other plants. It looks fantastic, so neat and tidy, give yourself a big pat on the back, it’s beautiful. The crotons certainly make a great feature and they are a plant I’ve had a love affair with ever since I first saw them at Surfers Paradise in the early sixties when we were on our honey moon. I’d never seen them before and thought, “I’ve got to get some of those” but I could never find them anywhere. It wasn’t until many years later they started to appear in K Mart and Big W and those types of places. However I still had no luck with them as I found out they were all being brought down from the tropical areas and as soon as our winters struck they would die. I don’t know if they have bred any that are now more suitable to our climate as I have been too involved with my brom’s and they keep me busy enough, and besides I have nowhere to put them now anyway.

I’ll finish now with a few random pic’s that were taken on a brom society visit to member's gardens.

All the best, Nev.

Hi everyone. Nev you are a funny bugger. You always manage to make me laugh even if it's only 6am. My Mum used to take that cough mixture because it's got no sugar in it. She was a bad diabetic. It did take like sh---. but what do they say, "it's medicine it's not supposed to taste good" Nothing much to report going on here. Still haven't worked out where the tiered bench is going. What with things going on at the school and housework and shopping and animals to look after I find myself a bit stretched at times. Had a visit yesterday from another bromaholic. He brought me around a couple of orchids. I don't know whether I need any as I don't know how to look after them. We have an un-used trampoline frame here and I was talking to my son last night he said why don't we put it up on poles and use it to hang plants from. We could put a piece of shadecloth across the top and maybe put some broms underneath. We've even decided where it will go. I need to get my Epiphyliums [strap cactus] out of the SH. Maybe the Mumma broms would be okay out there. Shirley lovely pics of your gardens and so much room. Oh boy are you going to have fun at Wendy's on Friday. Are you taking a trailer? My son is going to Brisbane this year for the charity run so I might have a talk to him and see if he can bring some back for me. Don't know if he'll get them through the road blocks though. If they were bare-rooted it might be okay. Well I must go the boys will be stirring soon and I must get their clothes and brekkie ready. The day begins. Colleen

Shirley, your garden looks really lovely. Good luck in the war with critters. I had 2 more mice in the house (that I know of) last night. Got one and put it out, but the other is still hiding under the stove.

Nev and Colleen, that senega and ammonia has been part of my medicine cabinet for many years now. Good stuff alright. I know from having budgies that mice are drawn by the seeds and grains. I don't use grains for my birds (or my plants) so don't know what is bringing them in. I think we get the odd plague here and this could be one of them.

Again, I am in a rush this morning. Buses to catch, shopping to do. Payday stuff. So have a lovely day y'all.

Karen

Hi everyone,

More of the same here again today weatherwise … starts out nice and sunny, then gets cloudy and then scattered showers, just enough to be a real nuisance. More power cuts too … whinge, whinge, whinge !!!

I made my first foray into Facebook today (with a bit of help from Tash) … a bit daunting to a first timer who is not particularly computer savvy but I’ll get the hang of it. Wendy, Nev, Colleen, you should have received requests to be my ‘friend’ if I did it correctly. Karen, are you on facebook too? I hope you didn’t experience any problems on the bus today.

Nev, I will have to remember the name of that medication with flu season just about upon us. I hope your pneumonia is on the mend. Thank you for the ‘pat on the back’ … actually I only showed you the tidy bits, there are a couple of gardens that are quite overgrown at the moment, some of them with dreaded cobblers pegs more than a metre tall. Fortunately the crotons grow very easily here and grow from cuttings. Sometimes when I am feeling lazy and can’t be bothered potting up a cutting, I just stick it in the ground and these will often grow.

We are on 5 acres and love it but it takes a lot of looking after and some days it just seems overwhelming … especially in summer when the grass grows so quickly. As you say, we have plenty of room but never seem to get enough time for 'special projects' like the shadehouse makeover.

Colleen, one more sleep till Wendy’s sale and I’m really looking forward to it … Michael reckons I’m like a kid in a lolly shop when it comes to plant sales … don’t know which ones I want and don’t know when to stop. And no, we wont be taking a trailer but we do have a station wagon and I have lots of boxes and a few plastic bags too. No doubt you will hear about my purchases over the next few days.

Anyway, gotta go, getting late ... photo is of neo Justin's Song pup

Shirley

Hi everyone - Well it looks like the antibiotics have finally “done their stuff”, I had a good night’s sleep last night and at last I feel like I’m going to live after all. In fact I feel so good this morning I’m going to start sorting and potting up my Neo seedlings today so possibly some pic’s tomorrow.

Colleen – It’s good to hear you have a fellow bromaholic in the area; now you’ll really waste some time talking brom’s every time he drops around, I don’t know, these bromaholics just don’t know when to stop; but its great conversation anyway. As for the orchids; well don’t worry about them, they’re easy to grow and brom’s and orchids really complement each other. Like brom’s, there are many different genera, what sort were they?

The trampoline frame sounds like a great idea; you could hang plants from beneath the shade cloth and put all the old mothers on the ground underneath. A great recycling project!

Colleen, you speak about road blocks between states; are inspection stations for cattle tick back on again? The last time we went to Queensland we weren’t even checked and when we went into South Australia we were just asked if we had any fruit and if we did we either had to eat it or bin it.

I remember years ago when I was bringing some orchids back from Queensland (and this would have been the early sixties) I was told I would need to get a certificate from the nursery to say the plants had been cleaned and dipped before I could bring them into NSW. I did this, and the bloke on the tick gate didn’t even look at them, and what’s more he told us that next time not to go to the extra expense of getting them dipped and getting a certificate, as they can be dipped at the tick gate free of charge, but just bring a plastic bag to catch the drips!

In any case, it’s always better to take them out of the pot and wash the roots prior to bringing them as they’re easier to pack, they’re lighter and you don’t run the risk of bringing some bugs into your collection. The main problem with plants from the tropical areas is “fly speck scale”, but if they are coming from a reputable grower you shouldn’t have problems. The only time I got caught was with an Ebay sale from Cairns, quite a while ago now; when I opened the box the plants were all filthy with “Flyspeck Scale” I took pic’s of it and then burnt the plants. I contacted the seller who denied it until I threatened to expose him by posting the pictures and identifying him. He quickly then changed his tune and admitted that maybe there could have been the “odd scale” and he refunded my money. To be fair to him though, I think he was just a “back yarder” and didn’t even know what Fly Speck Scale was until I sent him the pic’s, so “all’s well that ends well”.

Karen – As far as your mice problem goes, I wouldn’t worry about it, they won’t eat much anyway! Besides they are probably just looking for a nice dry place to stay for a while out of the rain. I am curious though, you say you don’t feed your birds grain, so what do you feed them?

Shirley – Good luck with Face Book; I’m still struggling with it a bit, but again it was Tash who came to my assistance and pointed me in the right direction originally. It’s great to have these obliging young ‘uns you can call on with your computer problems isn’t it? There's just one thing you need to be aware of though, it can be a great "time waster" if you don't control it!

I’m sure your gardens that are overgrown (as you describe them) are no different to anyone else’s, we all have these and if we didn’t we wouldn’t have anything to do and it would no longer be a challenge. Please tell an ignorant “New South Welshman” what are “cobblers pegs”, do you have a pic? You make me so envious when you say how easy you can grow the Crotons up there; how I wish that were the case down here.

I’ll finish now with a few random pic’s


All the best, Nev.

Hi all. Seems a bit cool here this morning. Must be imagining it, surely.

Shirley, have fun at Wendy's. Wish I could could get there today but no transport until Sunday. Wendy always has a surprise or two up her sleeve though so we'll see. Yes, I'm on FB as well so just look for Karen Warne or send me your ID and we'll link up. My avatar is a pink lotus.

Nev, the rainbow lorikeets are nectar eaters. They will nibble some grain, especially sunflowers, but it is not good for them to live on it. Their system isn't set up to digest it, so I guess they nibble on it for the roughage. I buy two mixes, one lorikeet wet mix, the other a dry mix, from the Aus. Parrot Society. Costs a fortune but at least I know the birds are getting some goodness from it, as it has added vitamins etc. The wet mix goes in under 2 minutes, then I leave the dry mix out for those who are still hungry. Bread is a no-no too, but when flowers are scarce I'll mix a plate of bread, a tablespoon of wet mix and water as it is then that the numbers swell and I couldn't afford to feed that many birds. Wildlife people would be furious, but the large flocks don't come in often so I don't think that the odd treat would do much harm. Green apples are also a favourite with them and those are generally cheap enough to put out one daily.

Hope everyone has a fine day ahead.
Karen

Well Shirley is missing in action. probably still admiring her new broms. She certainly emptied a lot of room on the tables. I think it was 5 or 6 boxes plus a couple of bags. I think she even had to nurse one bag on the way home. the back of the wagon was completely full when they left. she got some very nice bargains and very nice plants. I'm sure she will provide a list and some pics when she gets off FB. I accepted her friend request today. They went away with one of Johnny's totem rings and the ideas for a new shadehouse using pipes like ours so they can put the totem rings on the framework.

Shirley saw what we mean today when we say "open the gates and they will come in". LOL. when she and Mike were leaving we opened the big gate so we could carry out all those boxes and before they could get into their 4x4 another couple came in and asked if they could look at our sale plants. Now you can all see exactly what we mean.

I took some pics today but don't know where I put the camera. Hopefully it is still in the pocket of my potting apron. Nev I was giving some of the seedlings a spray this morning and when I picked up the tray of aechmea mexicana there was green leaf folded over along the lid but when I opened the lit there was one large plant and just some little tiny green bits starting to shoot. I can't imagine that one seed would grow so big while others were just starting to shoot so I'd hazard a guess that a stray seed has found it's way in. Perhaps a billbergia??? Anyway I had to pull it out and pot it up in a seedling pot. I've marked it so we'll see what it grows into. I've been collecting ripe seed from the portea noetigii. Every other day there are 2 or 3 plump black pods. I don't like to waste them so I've been squeezing them into my very fine sieve and washing them under the tap. Then I let them dry a bit before finishing the drying on a paper towel before putting them into a takeaway container. After a few days to totally dry out I'll put them into a seed envelope. I also collected seed from an aechmea with a large purple spray infloresence but it doesn't have a name. Might be the one in the pic below. Oh and the recurvata peach parfait has some lovely big fat black seed pods. Wish the other recurvatas had pods like that. They are much harder to harvest. Have you grown on the peach parfait seeds yet Nev? Is it going to give me some lovely hybrids? Being small plants how quickly will they grow to maturity??

Anyway I must be off to bed now as we will have a busy couple days ahead of us.

Night all
Wendy

Hi all … would you believe it. I had spent considerable time tonight typing up a post (in a word document so that I would have a copy of it in case DG website ate it, as it so often does) and just as I was preparing to save it and copy it to the forum, the bloody electric jug shorted out while Michael was making a cup of tea and it threw the circuit breaker, shut down the computer and I lost it all. I just can’t be bothered starting over at the moment, just so p*ssed off ... and now I have to go out in the morning to buy a new electric jug. What a disappointing end to a really great day.

Wendy, you must have posted while I was still dummy spitting about losing my document and having to start over. Thank you so much for a lovely morning … your gardens/broms are totally awesome. Very happy with my purchases and looking forward to your next sale. In fact, I have even started a new wish list … please keep one of those neo Peggy something ? was it Bailey … can’t remember … anyway, the last one I looked at. Also, the vriesea Kiwi collection Sunset, Dusk, Cream etc.

We picked up some 70% beige shadecloth from Bunnings on the way home to make up a temporary shelter for my new lovelies till the shadehouse progresses a bit more. And you are right, I did spend quite a bit of time admiring and photographing my newest brom acquisitions. Hope your sale continues to go well over the weekend.

Nev, I will post some pics of those wretched cobblers pegs tomorrow. I can’t believe you don’t have them, perhaps you know them by another name.

Karen, thanks for your FB details. I’ll follow up on that tomorrow too.

Well, that’s it for me, I'm off to bed too. Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Shirley

Hi everyone. Have received a lovely lot of broms from Nev and will have to finish potting them up today. Thank you again Nev. Shirley, you will be wanting to get to that SH now and protect the lovely lot that you got from Wendy's sale yesterday. Can't wait to see them. How I wish that someone around here had sales like that. Maybe I'll have to have one myself. lol Maybe one day. Well I hope everyone has a wonderful day and I'll see you later. Colleen