BROMELIADS FOR NOVICES & ADDICTS - NOVEMBER 2012

hi Shirley, looks like it is just you and I? I love your photo of Neo 'Enchantment' it has lovely colour.
The Tillandsia seed should germinate in about 3 weeks or so, but don't worry if the stuff dries out too much, unless its a bit warm as well. One tip I was told was to let them dry out by nightfall, and I'm guessing that might be because of cooler night temperatures?
I guess Wendy will be up and getting organised for the big day? I hope it goes well.
We had 6mm of rain yesterday, and although a bit more would be welcome, it was nice to hear the water running into the tanks, and the yard looks a bit fresher this morning.
I visited a fellow bromeliad collector yesterday, who resides in a caravan park, in a cabin. He had made the most of the space by hanging baskets in the carport, and making wall frames to mount wall baskets, then they were on the ground also, and across the front of his veranda, with more wall baskets, and more hangers, as well they were on the cabin walls and up both side, AND along the back! The park has just given him permission to expand into the BBQ and park area, so we did a bit of planning and are awaiting a delivery of mulch. My part will be to place the broms according to light requirements, and of course i will donate anything I don't want anymore, which a few other growers are also doing, so its a real combined effort. Is nice to do something for someone else, and know that visitors o the park will also get alot of enjoyment out of it also.
Anyway, as it rained, i didn't get around to taking any photos, other than this rare sighting of a Citrus butterfly sitting still enough to photograph. Usually they are too quick, but this one must have been sheltering from the rain.
Photo two is my Xmas tree made of vriesea flammea, which I hope will throw flower spikes this year. Eventually you won't see the framework underneath.
happy gardening this weekend, everyone
Sue

1. & 2. Vriesea Fosteriana 'Dillings Black Beauty', a massive plant for $20. Hope it gets blacker though because it doesnt look like a Black Beauty at the moment.
3. Johannis De Rolf 4. what Black Beauty is ment to look like.5. Merry Monarch.

This message was edited Nov 9, 2012 4:43 PM

Sat 10th.

Good morning everyone, gee it's the weekend again, where are the weeks going? The time just seems to be flying as Christmas quickly approaches, soon we'll be celebrating a new year again.

Firstly, where have all the regulars gone? Probably some are Christmas shopping I expect, but what about the others, are there any on the sick list? If so I'm sending a “cherrio” and “get well soon wish” and wait in anticipation for their return to our forum once again.

I spent yesterday sorting out some seedlings which were long overdue to be thinned out and replanted in new containers; in fact this job should have been done a year ago. I usually sow a couple of each batch if I have enough seed, and as soon as they are large enough I thin them out into batches of about fifteen to a container to give them room to grow. The remainder are left as reserves in case something happens to the first lot I plant out. Once the initial batch are established and growing well, the ones that are left fall victim to the “cull” simply because I just don't have anywhere to keep them and I need to make room for other ones coming along.

Some of these seedlings were ones that hadn't done too well, due mainly to the fact that they didn't get the attention they needed during the year when I was crook, and consequently were allowed to dry out on a couple of occasions which is the worst thing you can do to seedlings at this size. Anyway I found a few that I had forgotten I even planted, mainly because it wasn't my own seed and was genera other than my favourite Neoregelias. I found some Vr 'Milky Way' x 'Uluru Sunset', Vr. 'Megan' x Self, Vr. 'Megan' x Red Chestnut and Vr.Gruberi 'Tiny Tim' x Vr Ospinae 'Purple'. I don't expect there will be too many champions among them but I will be interested to see what the Vr. Gruberi cross produces.

Sue – I like your NOID in the first picture you posted yesterday; I've always been a bit partial to plants of deep red and burgundy colouring which I think is a result of one of my first crosses which produced burgundy coloured off-spring. What you say about it growing with a saucer beneath it goes against everything I was ever told about brom's until “Vriesea Jack” told me that the best way to grow the Vr Ospinae types was standing in a saucer full of water and I must say that when I did this the growth rate definitely increased dramatically. So I guess it just goes to show there are exceptions to all rules and your NOID is one also.

I do like your Billbergia 'Poquito Mas', it would be interesting to see what it would be like as a breeding parent with those colours, and no doubt you'll be giving it a bit of a touch up with some pollen when it flowers just to try it out.

In today's pic's I think your Christmas tree made from Vriesea flammea is a great idea, how do you keep thinking these things up? It's certainly food for thought though, as I have a lot of these plants around the yard and have never known what to do with them to really show them to advantage. What's more I think your timing might just about be “spot on” as mine are just starting to put up spikes now so you could easily have a flowering Christmas Tree. Who knows, the beautiful butterfly might even come back to see it also.

Shirley – I can't tell you how long your “Tilly” seed will take to germinate as I don't remember; but I do remember it is slower to germinate than other seed such as Aechmeas and Neoregelias for example, and they are also much slower growers, so you will have to be patient. The other thing I was told was that they do like to grow in bright light with gentle air movement.

I like your pic of Neo 'Enchantment', there's no doubt it's certainly a beautiful brom and one that always looks nice. Mine are still quite small and I can't wait until they reach the size of yours.

Wendy – I suppose you and Johnny will be flat out with the wedding this weekend and I trust that Max will be OK with “Aunty Jen” coming to visit and “spoil” him, so have a nice time and we'll hear from you when everything gets back to normal.

That's all from me, and the pictures today are: Pic.1 is one I bought as Neo 'Prince of Darkness' however it doesn't look much like the picture on the BCR so could well be a NOID that someone has given a “pet name”. Pic 2 is the nice little compact and well shaped Neo 'Kay Jay' although this isn't a very good example of what it's capable of. Pic 3 is one of the many clones of Neo Meyendorffii and although nothing special in the colour stakes has nice shape for a miniature, and one I will use to breed from. Pic 4 is a bench of mixed Vrieseas and Pic 5 is Vr 'Angela', an “oldie” but still a “goodie”

All the best, Nev.

Hi everyone!!!
Yes i did have my eye on that Hurriccane Alley on ebay but i missed the ending of the auction so i'll keep looking.
I could probably send out a few Fairytale pups, there still abit small yet though.
Shirley i love your enchantment. Beautiful!
1. Happy Thoughts. 2. a little Zulu pup. 3. Finally got a Jewellery Shop.
Finally have had some rain here, was getting very dry and having to water the lawn but not anymore. I never realised how many plants i have to water as it usually rains enough to not have to often.

Morning everyone, it’s not often I can say that, it’s normally very late at night when I get to DG. It’s raining here at the moment and I can’t do anything in the gardens or shadehouses.

I have just finished planting up the seed that I prepared the coco peat for yesterday. As I said last night, everything was ‘all set to go’ … just one problem … what the bloody hell did I do with the seed when I finished up yesterday. I know I put them in a ‘safe place’ but where!!! It took me around 2 hours to find them. I was getting so frustrated, I even went thru the bins in case they somehow got mixed up with rubbish. Anyway, I‘ve found them now and am so relieved. I get so agro with myself when this happens, mind you, it’s happening more and more often. All done now though, much happier with myself.

Sue, thanks for the info on the till seed. I think it’s wonderful that your friend in the caravan park has such a lovely brom garden and that you are helping to extend it into the BBQ and park area, and donating plants. I’m sure many visitors to the park will enjoy it. Hopefully, none of the people who visit Wendy and pinch her broms go caravanning and knock them off.

What a beautiful butterfly, Sue, how quick were you to photograph it … also love your till Xmas tree.

Bree, you made a good buy with your vr Dillings Black Beauty. I would love one of your neo Fairytale pups if you find you have an excess and perhaps I can send you a neo Enchantment pup (when they develop).

Nev, just to let you know … I would be more than happy to ‘foster’ some of your vriesea seedlings. Vr Milky Way x Uluru Sunset sounds like it should be a nice one but I would be happy to accommodate any of the ones you mention should you want to billot some of them :o)

I will try placing a saucer under one of my vr Ospinae as it’s never looked happy … maybe that will help. Love your pics.

We know where Wendy and Johnny are today but where are Trish and Ian. Hope you are both good.

Anyhow, I will try to get back later tonight, bye for now

Shirley

Pic is neo ‘Little Faith’, thanks to Sue

Hi Everyone!

Yeah I know it’s been a while since I last chatted with you all – my bad lol; my week was really busy and I felt pretty exhausted by the time I got home to do the normal cook, clean, take the girls for a walk and go to bed early enough to not be too tired at work during the week. Also jarred my back somehow so have been taking it relatively easy around the garden, no digging holes or moving rocks around or anything like that lol, plus by the time I get home from work it does not leave enough time to get too adventuress around the garden other than a promenade here and there around the garden.

We got up early this morning to commence cleaning and making room in the nursery for my bromeliads so they have a safe place I can store them when and as I need. We managed to get a fair bit done between weeding, re-potting, moving pots and hosing out the nursery. I have attached a couple of picture so everyone can see what we have been up too (a work in progress). We need to install some proper shelving in the nursery but for now we have a couple of old shelves in there plus some wheelable pot holder stands that fit a good amount of medium and large pots, so I will be able to utilise these pot holder stands for my bromeliads in the interim.

I had a look at my wee baby vriesea seedling properly today and all the trays seem to be doing really well, I can see by the looks of things that a great deal of the seeds have germinated and I now can see the growth without wearing my glasses which indicates to me that they are doing great and growing ok.

Thanks everyone for the great info / advice regarding the garden trolley we are looking at purchasing, thanks Nev we will definety get one with inflatable tyres. Nev really like what you did with your trolley sounds like it gets a great workout with your grandsons, ah to be that young again lol. We will need to get one soon in preparation for any bad weather, cyclones we may experience. At least then I will be able to trolley them out of harm’s way into the nursery when I need too. I can see a great deal of them also been moved inside our outdoor covered entertainment area as there is plenty of room there too and my vrieseas are clearly happy there as growing and colouring up very well.

Beautiful brom’ pictures everyone, especially liked Bree’s Neo’ Fairy Tale (great colour and so healthy looking), Sue’s Bill Rosea in flower (wow what a huge beautiful flower), Sue I laughed my head off when I saw your pic’ of the Sphagnum Moss that had exploded in your microwave, I really needed a laugh that day and throughout the night every time I walked past our microwave I cracked up laughing thinking of your moss exploding – too funny! Shirley I really like your Neo’ Enchantment, I have one but it still has a bit of growing up to do, yours’ has great shape and colour. Sue your Citrus Butterfly pic’ is awesome, what a great shot and I luv your Vriesea Flammea Xmas Tree, what a fantastic idea, I am sure it will flower for you at the perfect time for Xmas. Bree you did great with your $20 buy for your Vriesea Black Beauty, you can definitely tell that it will grow up really well as your other pic of what plant should turn out like. Nev great pic of your Neo’ Prince of Darkness, this one has been on my want list for some time; that deep dark purple really catches my eye. And yes I agree Vriesea Angela is an oldie but still a goodie; I have a couple of these because I like her so much. Nev I could not help but drool over your bench of Vrieseas – very nice indeed.

Nev thanks for the great advice regarding putting a saucer under Vriesea Ospinae types, like Shirley I have a couple of Tiger Tim’s that never look happy as they have droopy lower leaves. I am sure the saucer with water under the pot will do the trick.

Bree, my NOID below of what I believe to be possible Neo Stormy Weather is shooting out some pups, would you like me to send you one when the pup gets big enough as this one I have in full sun with no scorch marks as you can see from the picture. Anyway let me know if you would like me to put one aside for you and hopefully by the time I go to post it I may have some other pups popping up by then? Bree I know you are mainly after sun hardy types and this is one that can handle the heat. I want to keep a couple of pups for myself but once I get some more pups I will let everyone know and see if anyone would like one. Let me know guys if you think it’s Neo Stormy Weather? Does anyone have a Neo Stormy Weather that I could compare mine too?

Wendy, hope everything turns out fantastic for the wedding and that the weather behaves itself. Also hope everything goes well with Max, he will be in great hands with Jen looking after him, and sounds like the vet school will work out what is wrong with Max.

It’s been raining here most of the day which has been great, I luv gardening in the rain and listening to the frogs going off all around me. I got to collect a fair bit of rain water for my vrieseas also which was great as it will do them the world of good getting a bit of the real stuff. I needed ringing out big time by the time I came in for my cup of tea, but it is the best time for pulling out weeds and great for keeping cool on a hot day, and I luv swimming in the pool in the rain it’s beautiful and refreshing and makes you feel so alive and revigirated.

Anyway I better head off before I run out of daylight!

Have a great week everyone and Happy Gardening!

Hopefully I will find time to chat with you all during the week - hopefully!

Trish

Pic 1 Neo’ NOID – possibly Stormy Weather?????????????
Pic 2 Nursery getting revamped
Pic 3 Nursery getting revamped - pooches helping
Pic 4 Neo’ George Prince
Pic 5 Neo’ Red Macaw

Trish i'd love one of those pups...by looking on the brom cultivar register i dont think that yours is Story Weather though. Yours is much nicer. Is it a mini plant?

Hi Bree

Great, I will put one aside for you, thanks for checking the brom cultivar register. It's actually a medium grower and I think the one in the pic I posted tonight still has a lot more colouring up to do and not too sure what the centre colours up like when it flowers?

Hi again, just a quick post tonight since I was here earlier today.

Trish, good to hear from you, hope your back gets better quickly. I have neo Stormy Weather but it doesn’t look like yours. I agree with Bree, I don’t think yours is Stormy Weather, yours is a nicer plant. I will try to remember to take a pic of mine to post tomorrow night for a comparison for you.

Wendy, I’m guessing your big day is over by now and you can relax and settle back into your normal routine. Hope it all went really well.

Till tomorrow,

Shirley

Hi Everyone!

Just a quick hello whilst I am on a tea break. It is very humid today after the rain but everything is looking lush and happy which is great.

Thanks Shirley that would be great if you could send me through a pic of your Neo Stormy Weather so I can compare with my NOID Pic 1 that I posted the other day.

Nev I put saucers under my Tiger Tims and they are already showing signs of being more happy as the leaves really are less droopy, thats so much for the great advice. Shirley, hopeully you get the same result with yours, I am sure you will.

Nev I emailed you my Cultural Notes for growing Heliconias' and Gingers today, and thank you so much for the Brom Seed Growing notes, very much appreciated thanks.

Is everyone having a lazy Sunday today, it's so quiet I can hear the crickets churpping or maybe it's all our frogs going off in the yard after the rain lol.

Look forward to hopefully chatting with you all during the week.

Happy Gardening!

Pic 1 Guzmania
Pic 2 Sunbird Nest in our Nursery
Pic 3 Neo Gympie Delight in flower that I purchased recently from Bunnings, I luv this mini so much I had to have more than one around the garden. Bree the pup you sent me is doing really well and colouring up nicely.
Pic 4 Crypt NOID, I dont' have many of these - any ideas anyone? I have managed to get a pup out of this mother plant which I am pleased about because they are so slow growing.

Sun 11th.

Hi everyone – It looks like another nice sunny day today, and a day off from my brom's; we took our grandsons over to the Illawarra Light Rail Museum this morning for a ride on the steam train, something they really love doing, and besides I was also able to check up on the bromeliad garden that our society members planted over there last year and saw how it's going as well.

Breeindy – I like your plant of Neo. 'Happy Thoughts' it has a great contrast in colours and has a bit of similarity (pattern wise) with 'Camelot'. As for Neo. 'Jewellery Shop', well you won't be disappointed with this one, it's a beauty when grown in good bright light.

Shirley – Pleased to hear you're getting a bit of rain, it's certainly the “elixir of health” and brightens up all the plants in the garden, and I like nothing more than a walk through the yard just after a nice shower as everything looks so nice and fresh and smells so good too.

I'm pleased to see I'm not the only one who puts things in a safe place only not to be able to find them later when I need them. I tried writing down the locations of various things in a little notebook and found that to be a great idea, but if anyone can tell me where I put the note book I'd be very grateful and the system would work much better.

As for the Vriesea seedlings, thanks for the kind offer of caring for them, but there's not too many and I think I can find enough space down here, but if as they grow and get bigger I need any help you'll be the first person I'll call on.

As for the saucer under the Vr. Ospinaes, I know it goes against all rules, but I was told about this by an “expert” and I've done it and find it worked well for me, but that's no guarantee it will work for you so keep a close watch on everything just in case.

Trish – Crook back eh? Well just don't go trying to do anything heavy until it's completely better otherwise you'll be out of commission all over Christmas; take it from someone who knows! Although I can now see by your pic's you do have a couple of willing little helpers to assist.

I'm pleased to hear that your babies have germinated and are looking good. The most important thing now is to make sure they don't dry out, and this can easily occur if you can't resist the temptation and keep opening the lid to look at them.

That Neo 'Prince of Darkness' is a favourite of mine also, even though the shape isn't up to much. It's an good grower, but you do have to get the light just right to get the nice purple colour. I have a couple of spares and if you would like to swap for something just send me a D-Mail.

As for your ? Neo 'Stormy Weather', it doesn't look much like the pic on the BCR which says Neo 'Stormy Weather' is a hybrid from Neo plutonis x Sarmentosa 'De Leon's #8; They say, it's 11” tall with leaves 2'' x 8”. When I double checked on the FCBS site I found they have it listed as a cross between Neo Concentrica 'plutonis' x Sarmentosa 'De Leon's #8. I also have a plant called Neo 'Stormy Weather' which has been around down here for years and is a deep burgundy in colour and grows to a height of about 24” tall. To complicate things even further I have also seen a miniature Neo. of the same name and once again it doesn't look anything like any of the plants mentioned above, nor is it registered. It looks like your mystery plant isn't Neo 'Stormy Weather', and even though it's a NOID, it's still an attractive plant which I'd like to have in my collection; after all, “what's in a name”?

Now a few pic's to finish with, Pic 1 is just a progress shot of my garden make-over. Still a long way to go but I'm getting there. The next four are new Neoregelia hybrids from New Zealand bred by Peter Coyle of “Totara Waters”. Peter also took the pic's and has given me his kind permission to use them here, so although Dave's Garden will show the copyright as mine, it's really Peter's. Pic 2 is Neo. Totara 'Gold', Pic 3 is Neo. Totara 'Hot Lips', Pic 4 is a new Neo. hybrid as yet unregistered and Pic 5 is Neo. Totara 'Fire Opal'.

All the best, Nev.

Hi all, I just had to engage my brain before my mouth.. i have also had visitors and our monthly meeting. I won a raffle prize, a little plant called N Bobby dazzler and also some seedlings of Werhria Sanguinolentia.
Trish your crypt is It, the reverse with the white stripe inside is Ti. I r5emember it with a saying , It is trying to tie the white in the centre.
Nice pics everyone.
Have a good one.
Ian
Pic 1 Guzmania Lingulata fortuna X broadview
Pic 2 N Blackout
Pic 3 N Red gold
Pic 4 N Planet mercury
Pic 5 Lookind down at my pool area

hi everyone. well the wedding is over. what a great day at Ettamogah pub and Aussie world. I'd recommend a wedding there anytime. we were able to enjoy a nibble and sip or two then out for a few quick rides then back for more nibbles and sips and a lot of chatting of course. Emily has more courage than me and wanted to go on rides I wasn't prepared to go on. Luckily she had lots of people willing to take her. I took all my grandkids (except Rylee who wasn't well) on the ferris wheel after lunch. unfortunately it was only dribbling rain. most rides had covers over them. I took Rylee on the teacup ride and even though she was snuggling into me she was smiling and saying "weeeee" every time the cup spun round. Pic 1 is the bride and groom in the teacup. Pic 2 is the cutting of the cake. I can't believe I didn't think to take my camera out to the rides all day. lucky someone else got the teacup pick. not sure if it was the professional photographer who followed them around for a while after the ceremony. I pulled these pics off facebook today. haven't even downloaded my camera shots yet. I'll post more pics tomorrow night after downloads. We got home after dark last night and I had a cup of tea and was in bed by 8:30pm. I didn't sleep well the night before waking and thinking of problems all night as you do. I woke up at 4AM and remembered that I can only draw $1000 per day on eftpos so even though I'd transferred enough money for the drink tab I couldn't pay it from there. lucky I had enough in the credit card for the rest. I also remembered not long after that we had forgotten to go round to feed their dog on friday afternoon so at 6am we were round there trying to keep Indy quiet while we got his food out for him. he must have been starving poor dog.

anway after such a broken sleep I fell asleep in the back seet on theway home yesterday and my eldest son Darren took a pic of me with the grandkids laughing at me. he sent the pic to everyone and threatened to put it on facebook. so far it hasn't appeared on there but I know he will wait for me to relax and then it will appear. my sisters-in-law both said today they laughed their hearts out when they saw it and one said she also fell asleep on the way home so not to worry. she did say though that she has saved the pic and if I ever post a horrible pic of her she will have payback. so I'll not post pics of her I think hahahaha.

anyway I'm off to bed now. Max is making all sorts of noises tonight trying to breath. Johnny kept saying today that he was doing really well and he is fighting the obvious but I think we are delaying the obvious. anyway he is insisting on waiting for results on Tuesday. I think he might have to face the obvious after that though. we have decided to not advertise a sale for next weekend as I doubt Johnny will want to face anyone without Max here to welcome them in. I know there will be lots of questions of where he is if he is not here and I fear it will be too raw for all of us (including Jen) to respond to those comments if the worst possible outcome happens. so we'll wait a couple weeks and see how we go.

night all. can't keep awake any longer.
Wendy

Evening all, a very quick post tonight. We had a light shower this morning and then the wind came up to dry everything out and make another big mess of the yard.

Nev, your garden make over looks fantastic, so many nice broms. I love those new neo hybrids from NZ, especially Totara Gold and Hot Lips, such fantastic colour.

Ian, love your neos Blackout and Red Gold, lots of nice broms in your pool area too.

Wendy, glad everything went well with the wedding. You and Johnny deserve to take a break now and stop stressing. Fingers crossed for good results from Max’s tests.

Trish, I will attach a couple of pics of my neo Stormy Weather … it’s quite small, though the pups are larger than mum and a much better colour too. Your neo Gympie Delight is a stunner.

Bye for now, Shirley

Good morning, such a lot to catch up on.
Wendy, I am glad the wedding went well, despite the weather. Your son looks alot like his father! I'd love to see the shot of you sleeping! heh heh.
Shirley, I hate the spring and autumn winds! You could put up with all the other weather events if only the wind would drop a bit. Fingers crossed it will soon be over.
We got 6mm here on friday, and then 66mm on saturday, so a nice drop and it put a bit in the tanks too. The sun is shining and everything is alright with my world!
Nev, I had the good fortune to visit Totara waters last year, while at the bromeliad show in Auckland, and had a great time looking through the gorgeous gardens and the hot houses. They are lucky enough to be able to grow alot of their broms in full sun, as it doesn't have the intensity as here. I see Peters hybrids from time to time on Facebook, and he has some real stunners (as do a few other hybridisers that advertise there) I love to drool over the pictures, and know they will be over here soon, as "cool Broms' is on in NZ next year, and someone from Australia will import the lovely NZ hybrids back here.
I remember my Dad taking us to the Waitakeres, when we were kids, to ride the train there. he was in some railway club and as kids, we loved it! I bet your grandkids do too?
Bree, that was another nice stash of broms you have pictured. Do you have a shade house or are they all living in the garden?
Trish, lovely photos of the nursery revamp. Your little pals look so cute. I hope your back is feeling a bit better.
Hello to all the lurkers. Karen, where have you gone? Jen, what did you get at the spring sale? Jean and Colleen, how are your broms doing ? And Mike, haven't you finished that project for your mate yet?
I had better get out and about and begin my monday.
Photo one is Neoregelia 'Break Of Day' in the garden (one that didn't get burnt)
Photo two is an Aechmea blanchettiana hybrid that has been happily living at the base of a gum tree for a few years
Photo three is a Vriesea (NOID) in the garden
Photo four is N. kautskyii, which is full of seed if anyone would like some.
Sue

Nev that last one you posted Pic 5 Neo. Totara 'Fire Opal' looks alot like what i have as red river, see my pic 1 or my pink river pic 2.
Sue- no room in my shade house its full of orchids.hehe! All my broms are in a garden which gets full sun for most of the day except the afternoon. Yes i know im running out of room and i need to weed. hehe!

Hello everyone.
I am always looking in to read all the posts but as I am not avid brom collector, I just enjoy looking.
I just went out to talk to allmy plants and open the greenhouse door for the broms.
They like being in there and when the sun shines through, the colors are lovely.
Its only a plastic greenhouse from eBay , but does a great job. Over the years I have bought three so have a place for the broms and also my other seedling plants ( brugs etc )
I have a large piece of shadecloth over the greenhouses all year but in summer I add an extra piece along the sunny side .

I thought I would post a few of my brom pics.
The skewers in the pics are for any new broms until they stabilise themselves.
I have been selling quite a few at the Trash & Treasure I take plants to twice a year.

pic 1...bill...amoena Selby Sidel
pic 2...neo...Grace Darling x Grace Darling
pic 3.... neo meandorphi
pic 4...neo Morado
pic 5...neo Noble Descent


This message was edited Nov 14, 2012 7:12 AM

a few more .
I hope I have the spelling of names right.
If there are any you think are wrongly named, please tell me . I use the names they were sold as.

pic 6...neo Sheldance
pic 7 ...neo Bill Morris
pic 8 ...neo Enchantment alba marginata
pic 9 ...neo Martin
pic 10... vr. heiroglyphica x Red Chestnut.

Lastly two pics of the broms in their greenhouse. A bit dull here this morning so colors dont look as bright as they really are.

Third pic is a large noid that just grows and grows. It lives outside int eh open shadehouse along with a lot of the other plainer green broms and a few old mothers.

Jean.

These noids have flowers and if anyone can help with names, I would be grateful.
They all live out in the open shadhouse and are mostly green and spiky .
Most seem to grow quite large.
Excuse the white marks, the magpies all sit above the shadehouse at feed time.

Jean.

Stupid me, hit the wrong button before i added the rest of the pics.

Jean.

Hi Everyone

Just a quick thread tonight and no pics ready to post sorry :-)

Bree nice pics' you may need to start hanging your broms on the fence lol, do you have any other areas in your garden you can put them like hang from trees etc?

Jean nice pics of all your broms' they look really happy in your shade house which looks nice and organised. I also use skewers to stabalise pup broms that I have purchased as well as use a top layer of small gravel around them, all my broms seem to benifit from this whether they are pups or well established broms.

Nev I had a proper read during my lunch break of your Brom Seed Raising Tips which are fantastic and I know I will greatly benifit from these notes, thank you so very much. Nev that NOID of what I thought was Stormy Weather (but is not) I will keep a pup aside for you as well as I looked out in the garden today and found another little one coming up in another pot, would you swap a pup of Prince of Darkness for this or is that asking too much?

Anyway hi to everyone else, I have to dish up dinner and then we are going for a walk.

Speak soon and Happy Gardening!

Trish

Pic 1 Werhria Sanguinolentia seedlings
Pic 2 N bobby dazzler
Pic 3 Bil Muriel waterman pup
Pic 4 N Roys special mjp
Pic 5 N roys special from another strain
Hi all just did the piccies first tonight. I did a bit of clearing today for tree leaf protection along the fenceline. It is the east fence and just a jungle in the neighbours side. I am putting a cover up 10 feet high and somehow I will have to incorporate a system so that I can clean the leaves off it every now and then. I am thinking of tiltable sections. Tomorrow I will have to give the Werhrias some attention, possibly pot some up. They seem to have been removed from other containers and put into the 1 that I have. They are probibly 2 years old now. Obviously slow growers. I have 1 in my bush house that I have had for at least a year and it is only 4" high. I find it interesting that I have 2 strains of Roys special, the red one is one of Margaret Pattersons and the other is from a different breeder. The narrow leaf one has been in a shaded area for a while and is an old pic. The plant has been moved to more light down near the pool for the last couple of months

Nev I love the Totara's just georgeous.

Sue I just love Break of day and I would like to try some Kautski seed please. I will send a Dbox with my details.

Jean I don't know the plants but they are niceAechmeas .

Bree I like your Red river

Shirley your stormy weather is a nice plant, similar to one I have but different.

Have a good one.
Ian

Hi Everyone

I am back quickly as I forgot to say thanks to Shirley for sending pics of Neo Stormy Forest, my NOID is definetly not this one. Shirley what a cute plant it is, not what I expected at all size wise, is Stormy Forest a mini grower?

Ian, thanks for identifying my NOID Crypt as IT, yeah I can write up some lables for them now. Nice brom pics Ian, I especially liked pic 4 which has great color and nice wide leaves.

Wendy great wedding pics, what a great place to have a wedding, sounds like you all had a ball, thanks for sharing beautiful pic's. Hope everything is going well with Max.

My back's getting better thanks to those who asked. Walking and stretching really helps, and with sitting at work I make sure I get up and walk around as much as I can.

Catch you all later!

Trish

Hi everyone,

Sue, your neo Break of Day is lovely, glad it didn’t get burnt, it’s one that remains on my wish list.

Jean, for someone who claims not to be an avid brom collector, you certainly have quite a few, a lovely collection. Come on, admit it … you’ve become addicted too, just like the rest of us here.

Ian, I love both your neo Roys Special. I have one which is still just a pup and I will be very pleased if it grows to look as good as yours, I especially like the wide leaves and the colour in the first one.

Trish, I guess I would call neo Stormy Weather a large mini … if that makes sense.

Wendy, hope all goes well for Max tomorrow, give him a pat and a big hug from all of us.

Nev, missed your post today, hope your computer hasn’t let you down again.

Bye for now, Shirley


Pic is my neo Roys Special when I first purchased it ... along with a few bugs. It is bug free now but looks pretty much the same, hope it starts to grow bigger soon.




This message was edited Nov 12, 2012 8:48 PM

Hi everyone. please say prayers for Max tonight as if it doesn't go well for him tomorrow he might not even come home and that would truly devistate both of us but especially Johnny. He kept saying today that Max looked really well and you'd never know there was anything wrong but as soon as night comes on he has trouble breathing through his nose and of course dogs always breath through their nose when they sleep so lots of noises.

I love neo break of day. love the small ones like rosella, small world and a few others.

today I potted up the very first seeds I ever put down in April 2011. they were from the plant in pic 1..... an Alan Freeman hybrid hearts music x fury. some of them were so much bigger than others. I also potted up some of your seedlings Nev of Reynella rebel x red bird which were put down about June or July 2011. These ones were some really good sizes. I did something you mentioned to the rest of the tray and made a fresh tray and transplanted some of the larger seedlings into this new tray but spread out a bit to allow growing room. I'll take some pics soon to show you their growth.

pic 2 is a favourite neo frankie
pic 3 is our bill morris full grown and nicely coloured. everyone wants these ones.
pic 4 is a favourite n. dream baby.
pic 5 is freddie - one I got from our trip up north and it is still growing in the scoria it was in when we got it.

love all the pics. jean your meyendorfii was spelled incorrectly. I think that is what it should have been.

I was up early this morning wide awake so at 6am I was downloading pics from the wedding.
first pic is Emily as the sugar plum fairy flowergirl
pic 2 is our family but one son was missing on the day home with tummy bug. Rylee was also sick on the day. she made it half way down the isle and burst into tears and stood still till Nanna picked her up.
pic 3 is my 3 boys Paul, Darren and Chris

last story from the wedding I promise. Rylee had seen her Uncle Paul once in her short life but still went to him at the reception and snuggled in. perhaps it was because he looks like his younger brother Chris? anway he held her for a long time while she just snuggled in. she wouldn't come to me but eventually she came to Pa for a snuggle then back to me. I did take her for a rid on the teacups but other than that she was too unwell and slept on the floor.

Oh and did I tell you all we had 32ml in our rainguage when we got home on Saturday evening? our tanks went from only 2 rungs full to only half a rim from the top. yeh........ Sunshine Coast where we were only got 9ml so we really didn't know what they got down here.

off to bed now as we have an early start to get to UQ vet school early. will let you know how Max goes.
Night
Wendy

Nice lot of Broms Jean!
Wendy love that hearts music x fury, very nice!
and i love Ians Roys special.
I dont have any new pics, i found another one of Fairytale though...

Thank you for all the comments on my broms.
Shirley , I started on broms because a few were in the huge collection of epis I was able to buy cheaply back in 2006.
I liked the colors so gradually bought more. When I ended up with over 100, I had no more room so started selling off some of them.
I still sell them at the Trash & Treasure twice a year and got the numbers down to what I thought was a manageable 50 or so.
I counted them all yesterday... there are again over 100.
I just cant resist buying a few now & again.
They seem to pup fairly well even here in the cold.
I have to get a few pups off the mothers over the next week. I am very pleased that they do so well down here .
I love the vriesias and the aechmeas best I have plenty of the neos but its a pity the flowers are so tiny and down in the centre. . I dont call myself a brom collector, because most of my time is spent with the brugmansias and irises.

Jean.

Hi everyone, not much to tell you today so I'll just look at the posts and add my two bobs worth as I go. Sorry I got delayed and now find myself responding to posts from the next day so I've missed a day somewhere.

Ian – I must say you had more luck at your meeting with raffle prizes than I did at my meeting. Your so called “little” Neo. 'Bobby Dazzler' won't stay little for long as it will grow into a fine big Neo. and one worth having in any collection. I don't know Werauhia sanguinolenta but according to the pic's on the FCBS site, it seems to have a nice shiny burgundy coloured leaves when grown in a suitable level of light; so congratulations on your win.

You've posted a nice lot of pic's Ian, but the one that really interests me is Neo. 'Blackout' as I could never find a picture of it on the BCR and no one down here has it either. Some seed came to me a couple of years ago of a cross between Neo. 'Blackout' x Neo. 'Mandella' and I don't know who did the cross but I know the seed came from the U.S. and had passed through about three sets of hands before I got what was left. I now know what Mum and Dad both look like, so I can only imagine what the babies which are now about 3” high will look like when they reach maturity.

Looking at today's pic's, I very much like the colour of the Neo Roy's Special (MJP) in Pic. 4, not sure of the MJP after the name but as it was registered by Margaret Patterson they maybe her initials although I don't know her middle name. The crossing was made by Roy Ford and is Neo. Meyendorffii (variegated) x Neo. Concentrica and I would say both of your plants are the same Neo. 'Roy's Special' (although they look very different) and the second plant isn't from “another strain” but is just an example of the variation possible when using Neo. meyendorffii (variegated) as a parent. Another example of its offspring being unstable can be seen with a lot of the Aussie Dream grex which often vary from year to year. To further support what I say you only have to look at the pictures posted with the original registration at:
http://botu07.bio.uu.nl/bcg/bcr/index.php?genus=NEOREGELIA&id=6895#6895
I was unfortunate with the one I bought as all of the pups it produced after I bought it were plain with no sign of any variegation so consequently mine is now just Roy's Special NOVAR.
I think if you grow both of your plants side by side under the same light conditions you will find them very much alike when they adjust to the conditions.

Just out of interest, there was another very similar coloured hybrid from the same breeder made from a crossing using Neo. Concentrica x 'Meyendorffii Albomarginate', it was registered as Neo 'Roy Ford' by Kieth Golinski. See it at http://botu07.bio.uu.nl/bcg/bcr/index.php?fields=Breeder&id=6861&search=ford

Wendy – Good to see everything went off OK at the wedding; like Sue, I too would like to see a Pic. of you sleeping!! I've been keeping my fingers crossed for Max just like the rest of us I expect, and hoping very much for a favourable outcome.

Are the seedlings of Neo. 'Reynella Rebel' x Neo. 'Red Bird' showing any colour yet? Mine are still far to small to tell. Hopefully you may even get some with variegations as Reynella Rebel is a variegated plant (albeit unstable). Finally and just for the record Meyendorffii has 2 f's and 2 i's.

Great pic's you've posted as usual and would you believe that just last week I was fortunate to have a very good friend send me a pup of Neo 'Dream Baby” and even as a pup the colour is magnificent.

Shirley - I think the plant shown in your pic's is the same as the one one the BCR. and if you look carefully at the BCR pic you can see the spotting is similar but the colour different. They possibly look different because they've been grown under different conditions and the one depicted on the BCR appearing to be grown in a low light situation. Also they are both grown in very different climates as the one on the BCR was grown and photographed in the Singapore Gardens and this could also have a bearing on the different appearances. This is a very different plant to the one I said has been in our area for years under that same name and which I was going to post a pic of today, but the camera battery has died so it won't happen..

Sue – That's the first time I've ever seen 'Break of Day' and 'Kautskyi' growing in a garden environment. You can probably get away with it as you have a warmer climate than I, but they certainly look nice growing naturally and the colour is magnificent. To maintain that sort of colour here I have to hang them right up beneath the shade cloth because if I put them in the garden they just change to various tones of green in the colder weather and only get a bit of colour in the hot summer months. As for your 'Kautskyi' seed, I'd love some as I have a small group of friends who are just starting out growing from seed and as I know it grows well from seed it would be a good one to encourage them with; besides which we would be also doing our bit to keep a beautiful species going.

I think your Vriesea NOID looks great in the garden as well. I think a lot of people (like I did) think that Vrieseas are too soft to grow in a garden. I found that couldn't be further from the truth as I had two in our back garden during the heat wave we had one New Years Day a few years back and they handled it much better than the Neoregelias and the Aechmeas which is hard to believe as they have much thinner leaves than either of the other two. However they had no damage except a couple of burnt leaf tips, whereas the others had very large areas of scalding on the leaves. So people shouldn't be put off from trying them in the garden (like I was initially) just because they look too “thin leaved”. Another thing that a lot of growers won't try either is growing them on tree branches; they make magnificent epiphytic subjects and just seem to relish this type of culture. I have a friend with a massive plant of Vr. 'Phippipo-Cobergii' growing in a tree and it looks great.

Breeindy – Your two plants do have similar marking to Neo 'Totara Fire Opal' and it will be interesting to compare their parents when the parentage of Neo 'Totara Fire Opal' appears on the Cultivar Register. 'Marble Throat' which was crossed with 'Yellow Sand' to make 'Red River' could just be the common denominator. As for 'Pink River', well that's not registered so we don't know the parents of that either. The other possibility for the similarity is fluctuation in temperature. Sudden changes in temperatures can also change the leaf pattens as you've probably seen where some plants with a plain coloured leaf will sometimes show up with a bar across the leaf which will probably never happen again to that plant; just one of Mother Natures little “quirks”.

Jean – Wow! We don't hear from you for a while and then we get all the news at once and it's great to see you posting. I like your 'Enchantment' albo-marginata, until now I'd never seen one before. I have the plain one which I'm very fond of, but an albo-marginated plant looks great and please write me down for a pup when you get a spare.

I have a plant with similar foliage to your Vriesea which I also bought as Vriesea hieroglyphica x Vr. 'Red Chestnut' and it was later identified as Vr. 'Erotica'. Apparently it was an early hybrid from either Bob Larnach or Lou Forest and got around with many different names which caused utter confusion. I have mine coming into flower now so I'll see if I can get a pic of the flower spike today and post it so you will have something to compare to yours. With the pic of your large NOID in the group shot, it's hard to say but it looks like a Vriesea and if it is, the faint banding could suggest a hieroglyphica hybrid of some sort.

With your Aechmea NOIDS, well one thing for sure is they have gamosepala somewhere in the breeding. I once crossed an Ae. racine 'Jungle Jewel' with Ae, 'Caudata' and when they all flowered they mostly looked like the plant in you third post and it was obvious that insects had been at work and pollinated all of the flowers with Ae. gamosepala which crosses with pretty well anything that's in flower at the time and what's more it appears from the offspring that the Ae. gamosepala is the dominant parent as there are many similarities. In your last post, the first plant could be Ae gamosepala variety 'Nivea'. The other two pic's could be Aechmea 'Mary Brett' or two of its hybrids. I cant be sure as it's growing in a low light situation but try some in higher light and you'll get a more compact plant and the flower spike will be more compact if my guess is right. Also don't apologise for the Magpies, I have the same problem as do many others who grow brom's in the garden.

Trish – Nice of you to offer a swap of Neo.'Stormy Weather', but I already have two others which are also very similar and as I'm trying to cut back a bit I'll have to decline your offer. However I'll send you a bit of the Neo 'Prince of Darkness' (which also has a ? over its name) with the warning that you may have to juggle to light percentages to get that purple colour just right as I had to swap it around to about four locations before I cracked it.

I forgot to mention how much I liked the little Sunbird's nest in the pic's yesterday. I first saw one of these when we visited Cairns many years ago (pre brom growing days) and I was interested to see the female goes in via a side entrance toward the bottom of the structure while the male camps in a little type of nest on top to act as a sentry; really amazing stuff.

I've gotta finish now; too much other work to do. Today Pic.1 is Neo. 'Nobel Descent' just to show what colour is obtainable when grown in bright light. The next four are beautiful hybrids from Lisa Vinzant, a hybridiser from Hawaii who gave me her kind permission to post them for you all to enjoy. Pic 2 is a very unusual Neo which is to be registered as Neo. 'Cat's Pajamas', Pic 3 is Neo 'Cherry Blossum', Pic.4 is Neo 'Blueberry Pie' and Pic.5 is Neo. Riqueza.

All the best, Nev.

Hi all , nothing much happening here today. I potted 8 seedlings Werhria and watered some of my plants. The Werhria has burgundy leaves underneath but green on top making it , I believe a discolor. It will grow fairly large and can only be reproduced from seed, it does not pup.
I put some non broms in my car to take to one of the workers in a space saving move.

Nev you tease. I want N Cats pyjamas but know that it would be well out of my budget and am not looking to take out another mortgauge just for a plant. It is stunning. I have seedlings from N Mandella about 15mm high, planted on 08-09-12. They look fine to me. Maybe in a year or so I will have some to dispose of, maybe they will all be duds.
Have a good one
Ian
Pic 1 Hohenbergia Leopoldo-Horstii
Pic 2 N Princeps
Pic 3 N Rafael


.

Good morning,
Nev, that Cats Pyjamas is the ......well.......cats pyjamas! I want one! or two. I wish I could get my Neo. 'Noble Decent' to that colour too, but, despite being out in the garden and in high light, it doesn't quite reach the intensity of your photo.
I will check the kautskyii seed for readiness, this morning, as there are a couple of takers, but I am certain there will be plenty to go around! N. kautskyii grows well in the garden here, in fact, just about every bromeliad I have planted performs better than those in the pots. My theory is that they become accustomed to the permanent position, where as in pots, they are often moved, even if just a little bit, and have to adjust to changes in light direction and temperature.
Shirley, I will gladly pop a pup of N. 'break of day' in the post for you, if you don't mind a little bit of burn? They pup very well, so you will soon have an unblemished plant to admire. They form a nice clump, and are very tidy growers.
Seeing your N. 'Roys Special' reminds me.....I have about 10 variegated Neos on my sales bench, from N. 'Raphael', 'Picollo', 'Carolinae Tricolour', 'Maggies Pride' e.t.c, and they never sell! Everyone prefers the solid colours, or the reds, so it seems? I used to gravitate toward the variegated plants, and in fact, still do. I have decided this sale to spread them out amongst the colours, to give them a better chance of selling. else I guess, they will go and live in the garden.
Jean, you have done very well to only accumulate 100 bromeliads! I am glad they are all growing well for you. How many brugmansias and Iris are you up to? How is everyone in the tea room. I haven't popped in for ages, as this thread keeps me busy enough, but say hello to all from me please.
Ian, I bought a mature Werauhia sanguinolenta from a brisbane show one year, and it never flowered, but pupped from the centre, and now the pup has taken over, and you cannot see where the parent ends and pup begins. They don't like the winters, so I have mine in a sheltered spot, getting morning sun, and it is a very deep, intense burgundy on top and bottom of the leaf. I also bought a seedling of the same, at the same show, and while it has been slow, it was greener on the top of the leaf, but as it has matured, it has gained the burgundy colouring. I grow them the same as a Vriesea. I did try some seed, which germinated, but didn't last the winter. I have two Werauhia kupperiana seedlings (from 7 that Nev sent) that live in the hot house, as they don't like our mild temps, but prefer it hot and humid. They 'might' have to go North if they don't grow a bit more this year.
Hohenbergia leopoldo-horstii is one of my favourite broms, and I love the tubby, chubby shape when it is grown in full sun, and the black/silvery coloring it gets. I haven't flowered one yet.
Wendy, I like N. 'Freddie' too. My husband bought me one from a feller that was taking the pups off too small, and it has never recovered. It has thrown two pups, both of which stayed small plants, and one is variegated while the other isn't. I will persevere with it, but I even have my doubts as to whether it is 'Freddie' or not? I will take a pic as soon as it is light. How is Max? I kept my fingers crossed he will be OK.
I can see why everyone wants your N. 'Bill Morris'. It looks great.
bree, I can see a couple of weeds, but your lovely plants outshine them. I don't think it matters if you had orchids in you shade house or not, because there is never enough room, and in fact, we are about to make ANOTHER shade house! gulp! And here was I, supposed to be cutting back so I can go travelling! .
Trish, I am glad to hear your back is feeling better. I have had my moments with a sore back, and have learned to do lots of things differently now. Unfortunately, I had to give up my gardening work, or I wouldn't have been able to do my own around here. I hope yours continues to mend and you have many years of trouble free gardening!
Well folks, I have a ton of things to do, starting with seeds from kautskyii and a photo of N. 'Freddie' so I'd best get my feet on the floor!
Talk tomorrow
Sue
photo is of my friends plant....Vriesea 'Rafael'

Hi everyone - Well it looks like its been raining here over hight so possibly no work in the yard today, but back to the garage for some more seedling re-potting. I think that's one of the great things about growing brom's from seed through to adult plants, there's always a wet weather job you can do with the smaller plants.

Ian – I have to agree with you Ian, Neo 'Cat's Pyjamas' is a beaut and I reckon it will be out of the reach of our combined budgets. Lisa sells a lot of her plants through “Michael's Bromeliads” which as well as a high quality bromeliad nursery, also does world wide mail orders.
(See http://www.michaelsbromeliads.com/ ) Lisa told me it hasn't been officially registered yet but since she first showed pic's of this plant on the Bromeliad Forum, both her and Michael have been getting lots of enquiries. She didn't say how much it will sell for but I'm sure you and I can't afford it.

You must be amassing quite a collection of brom's now as every time you post it's something new whereas I only have the same ones I've had for a long time and now only rely on swaps and the odd seedling that turns out good to go into my collection.

I like your little Neo 'Rafael' it's a lovely plant and very scarce down here. I have one which I got from a friend in Far North Queensland and I've been watching it like a hawk for signs of a pup, but as yet it hasn't obliged.

Sue – That pic of Nobel Descent was taken in Cairns where they have no trouble getting that colour at all and the same applies in N.Z. where they seem to be almost yellow. The best I can do in the garden down here is a light lime green, but strangely enough, if I hang a plant right up beneath the beige shade cloth I can get more of the yellowish colour in it. I had though being up further north yours would colour up easily, but apparently your not north enough. I wonder how our other members do with it, (come on people tell us how you do with your Neo. Nobel Descents).

I have some small seedlings somewhere of a cross I did with Nobel Descent x Neo. Kautskyi. My idea was that as they can both tolerate high light and are both in the yellow tones, the seedlings may also be sun tolerant yellows which is a very popular colour among brom. growers.

I tried a Werauhia kupperiana also and didn't do any good once winter hit. I then tried growing it from seed as I read somewhere that seed grown plants often acclimatise better than adult plants and they grew well until the cold weather struck and again they started going backwards. Even putting them in a warmer place was no good so I gave them all away to friends living up north along with my seedlings of Ursulaea Macvaughii which went the same way as soon as the cold weather struck. Just as a foot note, one of the Ursulaea Macvaughii seedlings I gave to Jen is now about three feet across so it likes growing in her area. (Time for another pic Jen).

It's quite strange; today we have two beautiful plants both called 'Rafael', but both from two separate genera; I wonder if they were named by the same grower, I must look that up to satisfy my curiosity.

Well it looks like that's just about it for today and now Pic.1 which is the plant that has been grown for years down here carrying the (incorrect) name of Neo. 'Stormy Weather'. As you can see, this plant is pretty neglected and just left in the garden to do its own thing. Under these conditions the foliage is spotted, but when grown in a more shady area, it has beautiful shiny burgundy coloured leaves; but it's certainly nothing like the 'Stormy Weather' plants recently posted here so it has to be an imposter and another for my NOID collection.
Pic's 2 and 3 are for Jean, and are pic's of a plant which I originally bought as Vr. Hieroglyphica x Red Chestnut and was later identified as Vr. Erotica.. Although it's a pretty rough garden grown specimen which has recently been potted up after de-pupping, you can still see the leaf pattern and what the inflorescence is like

While looking around the garden yesterday trying to find the bogus Neo 'Stormy Weather' plant, I found a plant of Bill. Rosea (at least that's what I think it is) in full flower (Pic.4). It was facing away from me almost like it didn't want to be seen but I got it out and got a pic anyway, and finally Pic. 5 is Guzmania 'Hilda' one of my favourite Guzmanias and one of the few that doesn't seem to be troubled with the cold winters down here. I found this hiding on a bench behind some other Guzmanias and Vrieseas and didn't even know it was there until the tell-tale yellow bracts stuck their heads up.

All the best, Nev.

Hi all, Wednesday is our shopping day so we have done nothing at home today.

Wendy, love the neos in your pics. That’s four more to go on the wish list. Frankie and Freddie seem odd names for such lovely broms, even Bill Morris. I guess they have been named after friends or family of the grower.

Love the wedding pics, Wendy and waiting anxiously for news of Max.

Bree, I have neo Fairytale, it looks nothing like yours, which is stunning. Mine is very different, I will try to remember to take a pic tomorrow for comparison.

Nev, those hybrids from Hawaii are just AWESOME, I love them all, they are all so beautiful and so different too but neo Cats Pyjamas and neo Blueberry Pie, WOW. Neo Noble Descent is one I don’t have Nev, so I can’t comment on how well it grows in Brissie. I am sure Wendy or Jen will have it though.

Sue, I would love a pup of neo Break of Day, thank you, I will send you a Dmail. I can’t believe you have trouble selling your variegated neos, I think they are the most eyecatching. I saw a beauty the other day, neo Solar Flare, another quickly added to the wishlist. I love Hohenbergia leopoldo-horstii too but have heard they are difficult to grow and since they are rather expensive I have resisted the urge to buy one. Would I be likely to have problems growing this one in Bris.

Sue, we are working on extending our new shadehouse already. Like you, we planned to travel around Oz and began cutting back on the number of potted plants, mostly succulents at the time, so we could take off but then the super took a dive and we put it off. Since then I have caught the brom bug and I know it will be difficult to part with any of my little brom friends any time soon so I think it will be a while yet before we make new travel plans.

I have an Ae Gamosepala that has an albino pup. This is the second one it has thrown and I made the mistake of removing the first, which promptly died. I will leave this one on its’ mum and see how it fares. I also have a flowering bill which is unnamed and I will post a pic. If anyone can tell me its’ name I would love to know.

That’s it for me tonight, bye now

Shirley

Pics are 1 Ae Gamosepala, 2 bill ? and 3 neo Rafael

Hi all. I did some more potting today. I finished my Acanthrostaccys strobilla seedlings and now have 44 pots of them. Now to watch them grow and then try to find space for them. I also potted a N chirripo pup, a N wilsonia X mood indigo and a N gunpoeder pup delivered today. These pups I bought on e bay. I like what I got.

Nev I am starting to get a few plants here. 179 Neos that are named and mostly correct, 65 Neo minis and I don't know how many NOIDS and other varieties. I am still in the process of finding out. I know that I have a big variety.
I don't think I have posted my Orthophytums or the 1 that i think maybe a Hectia, so I just may have to take some more photos. I noticed the sun has got to a couple of my orthophytums when I was looking for seed pods this afternoon. N Rafael is doing nothing in the pup dept as yet, I bought it between Xmas and New year 2011.

Sue I was thinking about plants in the garden and why they seem to do better than in pots. Just my theory but they could be more stable, have more consistent soil temperature and also moisture. They could also have less restricted roots to search for more food and water. I noticed that with with myVr glutinosa that when in the ground the roots travelled away from the plant.Due to renovation of garden I put it in a pot. It's message to me "not happy jan" It will have to wait until i am ready, it is growing grasses anyway.
Have a good one.
Ian
Pic 1 Ae Bromefolia
Pic 2 Ae Big stuff
Pic 3 Ae Fillacaulis
Pic 4 Portea petropoliana var extensa
Pic 5 Ae Peek a boo

Shirley, Your second pic is Aechmea I think nudicaulis , I would like to see more of the leaves to see colouration

Hi everyone. Sorry I didn't post last night. I just couldn't face up after the bad news we got yesterday. As we feared he does have a tumour in his nose which has completely blocked the L side and is starting to impact the R side as well. It is also bulging out behind the nasal cavity. they've given him a maximum of 3 months to live with maybe 4-6 weeks of comfortable living before his breathing becomes too restricted. We'll have him put down before he has to endure too much pain and trouble breathing. We have already collected info on pet cremations. We picked him up this morning from the university vet hospital and he has been sleeping most of today. I guess after he recovers from this procedure he should have a few weeks of comfortable normal living I hope. We'll worry after Christmas about what happens next.

Like others on here I've also had a back problem caused from when I worked as a computer consultant many many years ago. We didn't have trolleys to carry computers and as part of our job was delivering and installing new systems into libraries we had to carry the components from our car to the school library to set up and train the staff. When I was being treated by a physio I was told the hardest job for someone with a bad back was vacuuming carpet so that was one job I gladly handed over to one of my boys. another difficult job was hanging washing as a lot of bending and reaching.

Nev there's a new fb group now for hybridising and seed raising. still only collectng members but so far there's been some good discussion on seed raising and pics are just starting to roll in. We've been potting up seedlings for a week now and our new seed raising area is getting pretty full of trays of seedling pots. Nev I had a tray with 2 sections in it and i had used spaghnum in one section and coir peat in other with same seeds. Up till about a month or 2 ago the seedlings were roughly about same size and I had planted up a few from each side. difference was so negligable that I didn't record which was from which side. However the remainder which were potted up today totally amazed me. The spaghnum side had really powered on and leaves were now so much fatter and healthier than other coir peat side. But when I pulled them out to pot up the ones from spaghnum side had very good root systems while other side often had little or no roots at all. I think I'll have to reevaluate my potting medium and perhaps do a few more experiments. has anyone else got anything to add to these observations????

Sue I used to have 1 table of all the variegated neos at our sales but when Jen started helping she started shufling broms around and she likes to have 1 different brom in amongs others as these different ones stand out. so we now have variegates mixed in with others and reds mixed with greens. whatever we want to get rid of we hide amongst a group of totally different ones eg a single red among a group of greens. We're lucky to have Jen around as she is a workaholic and rarely sits still which is lucky as we don't get much time to sit still.

I took some pics today of the seedlings we've been potting up but I haven't bought the camera upstairs so I'll download tomorrow and share then.

Night
Wendy

I should have stayed to post my comments instead of folding the washing and putting it away. when I posted I saw that another post had been made while I was typing but there were several to read. Ian I agree that Shirley's 2nd pic is aechmea nudicaulis.

Ian your pic 4 reminded me that we have several lovely portea petropolitania flowering at the moment. when we pull up in front of our house now there are flower spikes sticking up over the fence everywhere. we have lots of people in cars and buses craneing for a look over the fence at the brom. If we have the gate open they pull up and look in. blanchetianas and porteas as well as lovely coloured neos everywhere over the fence.

Shirley we do have Hohenbergia leopoldo-horstii growing here. It is right inside the front gate in a totem with the plant sticking out into the sun. It wasn't doing well with a pup on the side so I took the pup off as I didn't want to lose it. Since then the main plant has grown and thrived and is looking so nice. We also have neo noble descent which we grow in the full sun along the front fence. The lovely yellow red colours look so good against the white fence. We also have break of day and solar flare here. however as you know trying to find a certain plant in our yard is often difficult however solar flare does have a colour that stands out. If I find one I'll put it somewhere safe for when you come down again.

pic 1 is Hohenbergia leopoldo-horstii for shirley
pic 2 is neo medusa spineless. we have a tray of these just colouring up at the moment. we have always kept these in one single place together as they seem to be scale magnets and therefore require spraying more often than other neos. we nearly got rid of all of them but as they are colouring up now they do look lovely.
pic 3 is neo little rosita. this is a small medium sized neo which looks good clumping up. they are looking stunning at present with all the lovely colour.
pic 4 is my christmas tree of mini neo fireball. this pic was last year and it is now much thicker although I did see Johnny taking cuttings off it last week. must go look at it tomorrow. also because of where it has been growing all year only one side is nice and red. other side against the seedling shelf is less coloured. mst pull it out of there tomorrow and check it out for a pic.

well this time I'm off to bed. take care everyone and I hope you all have healthy eyes tonight and didn't try to look at that sun this morning. alas I didn't wake up and so only saw it on fb pics and on the news tonight. I do remember one time as a kid when we had a solar eclipse and the day went darker then brighter again. Can't remember how old I was and even where we were when it happened as that would have told me the approx age I was. ah well 16 or 18 years doesn't seem too long away. maybe I'll see another one???

Night
Wendy

good morning
Nev, glad to hear you have had some rain. We had a little overnight, just enough to keep it steamy today, I reckon. I know when the humidity is high by how much black spot is on the roses (not mine) I tend!
I have saved the link to Michaels bromeliads, for a long look later!
You are lucky to have found that Bill. rosea when you did, as my flowers turn brown the day after opening.
Shirley, I grow Hohenbergia leopoldo-horstii in the garden in full sun with no problems. I haven't had any difficulties with it at all. It is slow, so no pups yet.
Aechmea 'Lucky Stripes' regularly throws albino pups, and I did the same as you, took one off, and it died. Just out of interest, if you have an A. gamosepala with the white stripes in the middle of the leaf, it is A 'Mardi Gras'. Does anyone have it?
Ian, I think your theory has hit the nail on the head.
I checked the N. kautskyii seed today, for those wanting some, and they are not quit ready, but I will let you all know when they are. I also forgot to take a pic of N. 'Freddie' but thats not unusual!
Wendy, sorry to hear the news was not better for Max. Did they remove the tumor? At least you get a few more weeks to make the most of your time with him.
I am interested in the seed growing group, can you put a link on my page? I haven't noticed too much difference in my growing methods, as to Sphagnum versus peat, but maybe a mix of the two would result in both top and bottom growth?
I'm already ahead of you with the variegated plants. I have been setting up for another sale next weekend, and have bulk displays of one plant in each area, so will slip in a variegates one here and there. I'll let you know how it goes.
Wow, your xmas tree has grown. I recently came into possession of hundreds of N. 'Fireball' so might have a go at something like that too!
I have alot of Noid plats that i am looking for an ID on. If anyone can help it would be good.
Photo one is a big bugger. I thought maybe a takemura?
Photo two is also a large one (see my foot?) and is a bit more purple than shown
Photo three is another biggy.
Photo four is the baby crow I had to catch and release elsewhere, before he became breakfast for my dogs!
Photo five is a mass of N. 'Painted Lady' ready for the sales tables.
Sue

Wendy i love that medusa spineless.