SPRING AMONG OUR BROMELIADS...

Hello everyone.
Since most of you are busy and Nev says he cannot do it, I have started the new thread. .
I finally got the hang of doing it with the Tea Room threads.
I just hope you all find us in the new thread.
We came from here

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1331449/#new

Its still blowing a gale and raining here.
I wish whoever stole our Spring would bring it back...lol
Nothing is getting done , but the broms are getting a thorough watering.
At least they will all be clean .
Even though its still very cold, its not as bad as in Winter, so the broms are putting on some nice blushing .
The sun does manage to squeeze between the clouds for short periods which helps the plants color up.

I will be sitting inside with a good book today.
I hope you are all getting some sunny weather and enjoying your gardens.

Trish, have a great time with your Mum.
Hello to Nev, Tash, Sue , Shirley , Cody and anyone I have missed.
Better pop back and put up a signpost so you can all find the new thread.

pic is neo CrackerJack
Jean.

A big hello to everyone. Not many opportunities to catch up with the threads on the road but it's strange reading about the cold weather from here in Broome where I'm at the moment. Been having car problems so anxious to get home. Have the stretch through the Kimberleys ahead of me now. Temps have been in the low 40's, and it's a long road ahead. Also anxious to see how my garden's been holding up. Temps haven't been much lower there and no rain yet. The (few) broms I have are reasonably well placed so shouldn't be a worry. A lot of other plants will be "on the edge". Time will tell.

When I get home there'll be the big job of trying to identify all the wildflower photos. Have been doing some along the way but there are 100's more still to do. Cheers everyone.

Hi to all!!!

Good day and Good night!!

Cody

Hello everyone,

Nev, I don’t think I will bother growing alcantarea imperialis rubra or silver plum from seed. I guess once mine flower and die, I’ll look to replace them with reasonably advanced plants. A lot of people are growing them at the moment so prices should have fallen quite dramatically by that time.

Nev, I did notice the ‘thumb print’ depression on that NOID in my pic 5 of 30/9 but since I bought it as a bill, I went along with that. You are first on the pup list but it might be a little while before I have a spare as I have only just purchased it.

Tash, I know what you mean about school hols, everything and everyone seems so much busier. We have had family holidaying from Kalgoorlie and while they are not staying with us, we have spent quite a lot of time with them.

Yes Tash, it was me chasing a pup from xNeomea Strawberry. I will swap you for a pup of xNeomea Munchkin as soon as it grows a bit more, if that’s OK with you. Glad to hear you are feeling better, love your neo High Voltage too.

Jean, more rain and wind down your way, you must be so sick of it. Thanks for starting the new thread for October … where has the year gone?

Tropicbreeze, hope your garden is holding up well, despite the lack of rain. Enjoy the rest of your trip.

Hi to Cody, Ian, Sue, Trish, Therese, Bree, Jen … has anyone heard from Wendy?

My pic 1 – neo Small World, pic 2 – neo Red Snapper, pic 3 – neo Inferno, pic 4 – Ae Nudicaulis (don’t know which)

Bye, Shirley

Hi Everyone!

Thanks for the Birthday wishes everyone!

Thanks also for the well wishes in Lucy getting better; she is now 100% back to her normal self.

Sorry I have been AWOL, it’s been full on with visitors here for my birthday as well as my Mum, Sister, Nieces and Great Niece visiting, so our days have been pretty jam packed but really fun and enjoyable. Drank way too much on my birthday and took a good part of the next day to recover but all in all we had a fantastic time and it was great to let my hair down so to speak and run amuck a little in the confines of our home surrounded by friends and family he he.

Mum and I woke up at “sparrow fart” this morning and went fishing and although the bites were few and far between we had a nice time just kicking back and it really relaxed us.

After coming back from fishing we decided to fertilise all my trays of seedlings and by the time we were nearly finished we were nodding off over the trays (as we were sitting) and decided we needed a nanna nap and ended up both in the living room with the Antique Show on in the back ground snoring our heads off.

Hi Shirley I hope your head cold has gone away and that you are feeling much better? By the sounds of things you have been busy as usual with your broms and I am amazed by the colour you are getting out of them as they look fantastic.

Hi Cody thanks I am having a great time with my Mum and making the most of our time together, it’s also great because we share the same interests so spend most of the day just hanging out together which has been great. Cody your “Guzzie” appears to be growing really well, you must be thrilled with the amount of pups it has.

Hi Bree thanks luv the Brom Sleeves you got from EBay, I have seen them advertised before and thought what a great idea they are. Do they stay put well on your arms or do they slide down a lot? I have rose gloves that go right up your arm but they get so hot to wear during summer. Bree pleased to hear your tomato plants survived winter. I am giving the vegie patch a miss this year but will still have my herb garden growing happily (hopefully).

Hi Nev thanks for the info on Neo. ‘Justins Song’ and Neo. ‘Imperfecta’. I am more than happy to keep you a pup of Neo. ‘Imperfecta’ when I get a spare pup, this one has not pupped yet but it can’t be too far away as the plant is mature now and flowering.

Hi Jean thanks yep Mum’s here and we are having a fantastic time together. Yes you are right on the money a big box of broms will definitely be going home with mum and we are already planning what broms are going in it. Jean your shade-house looks great; you have done a fantastic job with it.

Jean thanks for starting a new thread!!!

Hi Ian thanks pleased to hear you also liked the pic I posted of my Neo. ‘Imperfecta’, it’s a really stand out plant in our garden because of its vibrant colour.

Hi Tash hope you’re feeling better and got checked out by the quack as chest pains could be anything? Thanks for your feedback on Neo. ‘Inkwell’ when comparing it to my NOID, I think I will just have to get an ‘Inkwell’ and put it beside my NOID to see if they look similar? Thanks also for letting me know what % shade-cloth you have on your igloo, great to know for future reference for when I go to build on in the not too distant future as I am running out of room for my Vrieseas he he. I laughed when I read that you call your igloo “Prime Real Estate” – too funny but so true when it comes to the special ones we collect that need added protection.

Tash the Rag-doll kitten I found ended up being reclaimed by the owner so it was a happy ending for all concerned and I was thrilled to bits about that.

Hi Sue pleased to hear you had a great time with the garden comp as well as your brom sale, don’t let not winning the garden comp deter you from entering because you always sound like you really enjoy the challenge.

Loved everyone’s brom pics they look fantastic!!!

Anyway time to head as my eyes are hanging out of my head.

Hi to anyone else looking in or on the sick list.

Take Care and Happy Gardening!

Trish

Pic 1 to 4 - Random back garden shots
Pic 5 - Neo. 'Blushing Tiger'

Hi everyone. I have been reading but I found that swapping from the big computer to the laptop I always had to manually login again and could never remember the damn password so I'd change it. then when I went to the other computer I couldn't login because the password was changed and couldn't remember it so this time I was determined not to change it on the laptop and I just didn't login when on the big computer. anyway here I am.

We go back to see the doc on Friday for the results of Johnny's tests. Flushing out his lungs cleared up his cough for a few days but it is slowly coming back now and he is coughing again. not nearly as often as it was but definitely returning. while he was under they said they took 3 biopsies. not sure why 3 of them but we'll see on Friday what the outcome is.

I'm having a full physical tomorrow so sitting here with my bottle of water beside me was too tempting so I took it away. Not allowed to eat or drink till after all the different tests. I've had a few issues lately but the worst was my hands seizing up and in the morning I couldn't move the fingers and had to force them till they cracked then painful after that but ok to use. was relying on nurafen to get me through the day. Coincidentally we stopped buying coke zero and I am drinking water rather than red coke and guess what???? the fingers are better.

Shirley I'm with Nev and noticed the dimple in your last pic the other day and was going to say it looked more like an aechmea nudicaulis.
My NOID's from last posting were identified as neo pascoliana as you all said and aechmea ornate. I have 4 nice ornatas now so will have to offload a couple. we also got 4 dykias so will have to find homes for a couple of those. Think I have a taker for one dykia and I'm sure he'll also take an ornate as he likes that unusual shaped plant. not sure about sun or shade though with that one.
Nev I sent you a little parcel today with shamrock, and a couple from way back that you said you wanted eg neo black beauty x gee whizz and the really purple one we had from Ray Nicholson he had numbered AFRN802. I posted them this morning so I'd imagine you could get them Friday.
Pic 1 is barbarian gold which you were talking about. I love it.
Pic 2 is black beauty x gee whizz. I think I now have 3 or 4 pups off that. took 2 other day so that's why I sent one to you Nev. sure that's the 2nd lot I've taken off.
Pic 3 to 5 are for Jean and are some of my orthophytums, starlight, vagans and a NOID that I bought as vagans but is definatley not.
Sue thanks for all the blanchetiana pups. they're all potted up now and growing on in our son Tony's yard. we took a ute full round there today to grow them on. we have heaps here for immediate sales so the smaller ones can grow on a lot before we have to put them out.

best get to bed and rest for my tests tomorrow.
Night all
Wendy
PS I know there was more I was going to say but cant remember what now. I'll remember soon and get back to you.

Nev I could have included a pup of barbarian gold if I'd just read last night before posting your parcel. Oh well I'll keep that in mind for next parcel. I did start a wish list once but haven't kept it updated. I should just write a name on a label and put it in the pot shouldn't I?

Anyway night again.

Hi Trish,Happy Birthday!!! Thats great that you and your family are having a blast.I am so glad that Lucy is a 100% better.That is great that you both love doing the same thing.Thanks!!! I can't wait for to to flower.I know i have a ways to go though.Love your pics!!!Take care!!!

I took my son to the town fair yesterday evening and it was raining.After awhile when it stopped it left this beautiful Rainbow.

Love everyones pics!!!!
Waving to all!!!
Cody

Good morning Everyone!

Just a quick one as we are heading out early this morning.

Hi Wendy I hope all the test ect go well for you and Johnny and hope you managed to get a good nights rest last night for your big day today.

Hi Cody thanks for the birthday wishes, we had a great time thanks as well as I am having a lovely time with my mum. Hope you had a fantastic time with Alex when you took him to the Fair. That rainbow over the Fair pic looks stunning and you did well capturing it on camera.

Hi Nev I forgot to mention to you yesterday that I will be posting a well established pup of Neo. 'Cliff Siverd' to you in the mail next week. I will also look to see if any other pups you were interested in are ready but possibly still too early to take them off yet?

Hi Jean I also forgot to mention to you yesterday that I will be posting you a pup of 'Copper Penny' to you also next week and possibly a pup off another similar species I have somewhere in the garden (I think under my lemon tree).

Anyway time for us to get going as we have a bit to do today.

Take Care and Happy Gardening!

Trish

Hi Everyone – On behalf of everyone I'd like to thank Jean heaps for starting the new thread, what we would do without people like you Jean I don't know; but I do know if you were all waiting for me to start a new thread, you'd have a very long wait.

Jean - Sorry to hear you're still on the wrong end of the crook weather, but just think when it does fine up you will have lots to occupy you out in the garden; and as you say, it does give you a chance to catch up on reading a good book. Have you read “Searching for Miss Fortuna – The hunt for a bromeliad”? It was written by Chester Skotak and is claimed to be “a novel inspired by true events” I really enjoyed it as it's an easy read and Chester's sense of humour is very obvious throughout.

Just a brief comment on your Neo. 'Cracker Jack', there doesn't seem to be much known about this plant except it's a nice brom and a reliable grower and that it came from the U.S. And has been around for quite a while. It was also in the “family tree” of a Neo. I bred and registered recently (see pic.1)
See: http://botu07.bio.uu.nl/bcg/bcr/index.php?genus=NEOREGELIA&id=3751#3751

Tropicbreeze – I hope you get your car problems sorted out as it's a bit concerning when you have to travel long distances in high temperatures.

I can't speak for the whole of your garden, but I can almost guarantee that the brom's will be OK as they are pretty good at looking after themselves.

Enjoy the rest of your trip and take plenty of water with you.

Shirley – I think what you say about being able to buy reasonably priced replacements for your flowering Alcantareas is right on the money in some instances. I know of one young grower down here who grew a batch of Alc. extensa and Alc imperialis from seed and was selling nice plants (abut a foot high) for just $5. Alc. Silver Plum however is a different “kettle of fish” as that's a hybrid, and seed grown plants won't necessarily turn out like the mother plant. The most common way to reproduce these is by tissue culture, and although the big growers do control the prices in these cases, now that there's a lot of them around from different growers, the prices have come down considerably.

Regarding that NOID you posted the pic of, if you are able to buy me a pup from the same grower I'll be happy to cover your expenses.

Admiring your pic's as usual and Neo 'Small World” has always been a favourite of mine. It's another nice, smallish, compact hybrid from that great Australian hybridiser Grace Goode and from the same grex as Neo. 'Small Wonder' having both had Neo. 'Maid of Honour' as the seed parent.
See: http://botu07.bio.uu.nl/bcg/bcr/index.php?genus=NEOREGELIA&id=7118#7118

Neo.'Maid of Honour' has produced 36 registered hybrids and probably many more which have not been registered. To kill some time during the lousy weather (especially for Jean) look at the results: http://botu07.bio.uu.nl/bcg/bcr/index.php?fields=Parents&id=6042&search=Maid%20of%20honour

I've never seen Neo. 'Red Snapper' before and can't look it up as it's unregistered, but Neo. 'Inferno' I do know; and it's not hard to see where it gets its name from. It's always been an “eye catcher”.

I think the plant in your last pic is Ae. nudicaulis var. aequalis, it's a very popular plant and there's a lot of it around. It's not unlike one I have which I bought under the name of Ae. nudicaulis var. 'Costa Rica', but it's unregistered and I can't be certain of the name. It may just be that the name is the location from which it was collected and has become a fixture on the name label.... as the experts say, “never trust the name on a label”.

Trish – Firstly, a belated birthday greeting; I didn't know whether to mention it or not as some ladies don't like to talk about their age, but you're only a girl yet so I guess it's OK. .Glad to see you finding time to drop in what with all of your celebrations with your family and the visit form your Mum (Hi Trish's Mum). I'm sure all of this has kept you very busy.

From what you say it sound like you watch the Antiques Road Show through your eye lids just like I do.

Thanks for putting me down for a pup from Neo. ‘Imperfecta’, the list must be getting very long by now. Anyway now the weather's warming up I must find the wish lists from you all and start taking off what pups I can find that are ready.

I'm sure you and your Mum are enjoying your time together among the brom's and if the plants in the pic's are anything to go by, there's plenty to admire. It's not hard to see where 'Blushing Tiger' got the name from, is it?

Wendy – Wish Johnny good luck from me for the results of his tests and I'm sure he'll soon be back into the fishing and growing of his Vriesea seed.

I'll be interested to hear what they reckon is causing the problems with your hands as I have a similar problem as they feel “tight”, tingling and aching all of the time (similar to carpal tunnel problems but I know it isn't that). I don't drink red coke so I can rule that out, but I think mine's probably nerve associated.........Bugger, there I go again , getting side tracked.

I'll certainly look forward to the parcel you sent and I'll have to see what I have that I can send in return.

I'm quite attracted to the little NOID in your last pic., certainly something different and although smaller, it reminds me of Neo. nivea with the white centre. Could you put me on your list for a pup when you get one spare please?

I always seem to be losing wish lists, but I have them all written on the back of each name tag now as well on my computer, now if I can just find that file?

Cody – I hope you and Alex had a great time at the fair, that's a pretty good trick capturing a rainbow on your phone; thanks for sharing.

That's it for today; Pic.1 is for Jean and is Neo.'Dunmore Ruby' (Neo. concentrica x 'Charm' x 'Cracker Jack'), Pic.2 are some “bits and pieces” I mounted on an old tree fern stump. Pic.3 is Neo. 'Braz-el', Pic.4 is a Quesnelia I found hiding among the undergrowth and didn't even know it was there until I saw the flowers poking up and Pic.5 is a group of hanging mixed plants.

All the best, Nev.

Hi Trish,your are very welcome.I am so glad you are having a great time with your mom.We did have a great time.Thanks!!! It was beautiful when i looked up and so it their.Take care!!!

Hi Nev,thanks!!! I was shocked myself when i took the pic and it turned out so good.The first pic i took it was only half of the Rainbow,then not long after that it was going all away across.We did have a great time.Love your pics!!!Take care!!!
Cody

Hi Everyone,
great work Jean on the new thread, well done :) By the end of the month they are always getting rather long.
Tropicbreeze I hope you are well on your way home and no more car trouble. I hope the garden is ok, it's bloody hot here too, I hate to think of what Summer is going to be like.
Shirely no worries at all about the xNeomea swap, send me a Dmail when you can with your address and I will get yours boxed up and sent off in the next week or two, I will let you know when it's gone. It's a good size so the longer is sits here the bigger it will get, so may as well get it off to you :) Love that Neo Inferno, really catches the eye before even enlarging the pics. Nicely grown.
Opps sorry Trish I must of missed your Birthday, I hope it was a lovely day and you got spoiled. It sounds like you and your mum are enjoying your time together, good on you. Mine passed away far to young this year, so believe me... enjoy every moment.
Wendy I hope all the dr results are good, always a bit of a worry the ol medical stuff.
Nev I am not much of a 'reader' but that book you suggested to Jean “Searching for Miss Fortuna – The hunt for a bromeliad?" is one I would love to read. I tried to hunt down a copy a while back and must have gotten distracted as I never got one. I will have to chase it up again as I have heard such good things about it.
Well nothing too much going on here, visting a brom collection on the weekend or someone we have only met once but heard many good things about, so it will be nice to go and see his broms. Also another grower we know locally near us is doing his very first market stall at our local markets on the weekend, so we will go and see him and hopefully he does really well. He has some lovely broms.
Well the weather is the same as it's been for weeks and weeks up here... hot hot hot. Even though we have the toppers up, most areas still get the full strength morning sun until the 11 or 12, and I have noticed some are bleaching again. they were bleaching before the toppers went up, but then settled down as they were at least getting filtered light from that 11 or 12 onwards, but that morning sun is getting hotter and hotter, I can't even stand on the ground outside barefoot, I get burnt feet! Our yard is NOT a lush green shady yard, it's open, full sun, sand base, and at the moment, dry as can be, so a lot of black sandy type areas.
Anyway... some pics..

The first one is our Aechmea Roberto Menescal looking great and the second one is two of our Aechmea chantinii X manzanaresiana's. Absolutely love these guys. Sorry some toothy ones today Nev ;)

Trish,Nev,Sue,Tash,Jean,Shirley,Bree,and everyone else.Hope you all have a very bless day.

Good day and Goodnight!!!!

Cody

Hello everyone. The sun is out here, but its still cold.
Thankfully the gale winds have gone for a while.
We have had enough rain for a while too. Everything is well watered.
About the only damage I could find from all the cold and excess water was a small mini neo that was not too great anyway.
The wind used to roll in over the top of the shadehouses and hit everything on the other side, but now I have the whole area covered with the shadecloth, no damage to any of the broms.
I had to run down in the middle of the worst winds to check on them. There were all the hanging bills, just hanging around , barely moving.
Seems like I have the ideal spot for the broms now its all covered.

I am waiting for the warmer weather to arrive so I can get the new plastic tarp over the greenhouses.
I have been checking the light in there while I have the shadecloth off.
I read that you all say, vrieseas like less light so I will put the green shadecloth back when the tarp is up. Its very bright in there even on duller days.
The vrieseas are looking great in there, but once summer comes with all the heat and very bright light, they will need the green.

Nev, that book you mentioned is not available in my library service, so a read of it will have to wait.
I looked at all the broms on the link you posted. I very much like noes Crinkle & Close Encounter.
Your Dunmore Ruby is striking.

Shirley your pretty pink noid ( 30 sept) is very pretty. I love it whatever it is.
If you ever get a pup, I would love one, please.
Your neo Small World is rather cute too.

Trish, so nice to hear that you and your Mum are enjoying getting about together.
Sadly my Mun passed quite a few years ago, but she would have enjoyed all the broms in my garden.
I got used to doing the threads as I said , for the Tea Room, but I made a mess of it a few times when starting out. Practice makes better if not perfect.

Wendy, I hope all goes well with the docs for both you & Johnny.
Your orthophytums are just so lovely. I do like the white on the last one.
Mine are looking good but one died when Mrs Blackbird kept getting into the shadehouse somehow. She does love to dig in the damp pots and kicked on of the orhtos out
It had died before I found it. .

No pics today as I have been busy being domestic. I do like to show hubby that I can dust & vacuum when the need arises...lol

Hello to Sue, Cody and anyone I missed.
I see clouds coming over again , so had better get out and do one or two things before I get rained on again.

Jean.

Hi all,

Trish, glad to hear you had a great birthday and that you are enjoying time with your family and with your mum.

Haven’t shaken the head cold yet but starting to feel better, thanks.

Wendy, good luck with Johnny’s test results tomorrow, hope all goes well. Also hope your physical went well today … this getting old can be a bit of a problem, hey. I might have to think about giving up Coke too, mind you I only drink it to dilute the scotch … and I drink scotch ‘cos without the scotch, the Coke tastes like crap.

Cody, love your pic of the rainbow over the fair.

Nev, I will do my best to get you a pup from the NOID you like. I bought it from the friend of a friend who removed the pup from a plant in her garden for me. She is a lovely lady but as she doesn’t worry about names or species (or labels), I will have to try to arrange another visit to point out the plant and see if she is willing to part with another one. In the maintime, I will keep your name on top of my pup list.

Tash, thanks for the thumbs up on neo Inferno and the xNeomea swap. I will D mail you my address tonight. Love the two aechmeas in your pics … gorgeous.

Jean, glad to hear you have sunshine … pity it’s still cold. It is very hot here and today the wind is very strong. We had 3 or 4 big drops of rain … no kidding … that was it.

Jean, not sure if the NOID you refer to in my post of 30/09 is the one in pic 2 or pic 5. Let me know when you get a chance and I will make a note of it.

Hi to everyone else. Another week almost over.

Pic 1 – neo Justins Song, pic 2 – neo Purple Sand, pic 3 – neo Predator, pic 4 – Ae Blanchetiana Red

Bye for now, Shirley

Hi Jean,hope the wacky weather ends for you soon and it starts to warm up for you.Take care!!!

Hi Shirley,thanks!!!Hope you feel better soon.Love your pics.I really love pics 2 and 4.I just love the pink color in pic 4!!!Take care!!!

Cody

Hi everyone – What a weird day it was here yesterday; started out warm and sunny and by the time I'd had breakfast there was a coolish southerly breeze blowing. It was at this stage I decided to go to the Rail Museum for my weekly contribution of time and it proved to be a wise decision. The wind got a bit stronger throughout the morning and then it stopped and the sun came out. Just after lunch the southerly breeze came up again and then it got quite cold and by mid afternoon it was raining....Thanks for sending that up to me Jean!

Today I'll have to spend some time preparing plants for our Brom Meeting tomorrow and then it's back to tidying up the garden. I find if I can do a little bit each day I can just barely stay on top of things, but it certainly isn't as easy as it once was and like you say Shirley, “getting old can be a bit of a problem”.

Cody – That's a nice pic as well – glad to hear you both had a such good time.

Tash – I don't know if that book is readily available in all bookshops but you can get it from here:
http://www.newbookpublishing.com/searching-for-miss-fortuna-the-hunt-for-a-bromeliad.html

I know a lot of bromeliad societies had stocks as well so if you have any contacts in a society, you may get it at a better price than from a retail bookshop.

Sounds like you'll have a good time going on your “brom safari”, it's always interesting to see other grower's plants and you always seem to pick up another cultural tip or two.

It sounds like you're really in for a hot summer; I don't know what to make of the weather forecasts down here; on one TV channel it says it's going to be a very hot summer with a very bad bushfire season and on another channel it says it's going to be the wettest summer for years – talk about having an each way bet.

I love both of your pic's but unfortunately, with Aechmea Roberto Menescal being a sport from Chantinii and your second pic having Chantinii in the cross also you need your type of climate and not mine to grow them.

Is the Aechmea chantinii x manzanaresiana an unflowered seedling or a division from that particular hybrid? Just looking at pic's of the flowers on both parents the flower on the hybrid should be a beauty as there's not much in the genetic mix to bugger things up as its a primary hybrid. Even with the teeth, I'd still like to see what sort of flower they produce.

Jean – It seems like you have the ideal spot for your Bill's now so just watch the colour improve.

I can't comment on the patterned foliage type Vrieseas, but the plain green ones can certainly tolerate more light than we give them credit for. When I first started into brom's (about twelve years ago now) I steered clear of Vrieseas. Because of their thin leaves I thought the weather extremes would knock them around too much and so concentrated mainly on Neo's. However like all growers starting out, I ended up with a bit of everything including green leaf vrieseas which I initially grew with the Guzmanias in a reasonably shaded area.

As time went on and I acquired a surplus of the green leaf type Vrieseas, some were assigned to a garden bed among some surplus Neo's to fend for themselves. Amazingly after one of the January heat waves which scorched most of the Neo's in that garden pretty badly, I was surprised to find just the occasional leaf tip on the Vrieseas scorched and they came out of it far better than the Neo's did.

I also know of a chap who had a few pots of the green leaf vrieseas sitting out in the full sun on either side of his drive and they were never really cared for. They were just left to do their own thing, and apart from the occasional watering were basically just neglected. They have now been in those same pots in the same area for at least twelve years (that I know of) and still they flower every year which is really quite amazing. They flower, the mother puts up a couple of pups and then she dies and the pups fill the space. I think the main thing I have learned from this is not to underestimate the degree of light these green leaf vrieseas will tolerate, but I must stress that if you intend trying some in bright light, better to put them in the new location during winter when the sun isn't as hot, and let them get acclimatised gradually.

Shirley – Why don't you give up the Coke and the Scotch and acquire a taste for wine, it's cheaper and in moderation better for your health. When I had my angiogram and the specialist didn't find any major problems with my arteries he asked if I drank. I told him I just drank a glass of red wine with dinner each night and his answer was, “well don't stop it”, red wine in moderation is good for your heart.

Although I'd like to get one, I don't want to put you to any trouble over that nudicaulis pup; I though you had bought that from a seller at your local markets or somewhere handy, I didn't realise you would have to go to the trouble of arranging a visit to another grower to get one.

Nice pic's once again and Justin's Song and Predator are always nice to look at but I always enjoy something new like Neo.'Purple Sand' which I'm not familiar with. I tried to look it up on the BCR but it isn't listed, but interestingly there are forty other registered plants with names all starting with the name “purple”....... now there's a useless bit of information to make your day.

That's also a really nice “Blanchie”; I haven't seen that colour before and it's good to see something different. There aren't many Ae. blanchetianas down here other than the plain green one or the occasionally one with a bit of yellowing in it, but they all seem to suffer damaged leaf tips from the cold. I grew a lot of different ones from seed as I had read that if you grow plants from seed that don't do well in your area, you have a better chance of them accepting the conditions. They grew OK but still suffered the cold damage so they all went to northern NSW and Qld for a permanent holiday where they are now happier.

Time to go again and today's pic's are; Pic's 1 and 2 are a couple of shots of some hanging plants just under a beige shade cloth roof, but no walls. Pic.3 is a clump of either Neo. Macwilliamsii or Neo. Compacta (I don't remember which) growing in a shaded area behind the frog pond. Pic.4 is my Ae. Fasciata clump in the old Peppercorn Tree and Pic.5 is my next problem area urgently requiring work. This was where all the surplus Aechmea seedlings were chucked just to see what could tolerate the full sun and what couldn't. They probably should have gone in the bin but they didn't, so I'll just have to see what I can salvage from them.

All the best, Nev

Hello all. I'm just in for a cuppa.
Nev, sorry about the weather , but thanks for today..Its been a beautiful sunny day with little wind.
I checked on the broms and decided to add the last piece of shadecloth so all the broms dont get direct sun. Plenty of light and lots of sun through the shadecloth.
I expect them to all show me how happy they are , by coloring up and flowering.

I took a few more pics so I can see how the color changes.
You are all right about watching every day and not noticing so much .
I compared pics from the beginning of last month to today and boy, what a difference.
Its funny how we dont really see how much color can change when we are continually looking at the broms.
I am pleased to see lots of blushing starting on some strong coloring on others already.

Shirley the pretty pink pic I was looking at on 30/9 was the last one you thought was a bill.
You can see from my pics that I have collected quite a few of the stripeys that you are so fond of too.

Better put these pics on and get back outside. I dont want to waste any sunshine.
It may decide to go back to Nevs place...lol

pic 1...neo Takemura Sun .. thats Morado behind and a noid to the right at the back.

pic 2...neo Perfect Red

pic 3...neo Bobs Baby.. Nev the little red fellow hiding just to the right is one of your seedlings.

pic 4... neo Lamberts Pride

pic 5...neo Noble Descent which has become a lot lighter with more of a yellow green .It was a darker green in the greenhouse. Behind to the left is neo Crackerjack and the stripey is aech Mend.

Jean.

Shirley - definitely give up the scotch & coke...
the only thing you should add to scotch is more scotch ;)
although for your head cold I'd suggest a whisky mac, 2 nips scotch + 1 nip green ginger wine.
Or a whisky sour - 2 nips scotch, juice of 1 lemon & tsp sugar dissolved in a little boiling water.

I am partial to a rusty nail - 2 nips scotch + 1 nip drambuie...

my Bil. nutans is starting to send up a flower spike, they are such pretty flowers but don't last long.
I am hoping that mine will eventually form a nice clump & give me multiple spikes.
May be a while before that happens but I love their easy care nature.

Hi Nev,thanks!! We went back yesterday evening and he had a blast.Love your pics!!Take care!!!

Cody

Hi everyone.
well my tests revealed I now have high blood pressure not low as I have always had before. The nurse also told me that my cholesterol & blood sugar levels are good but my triglycerol level is high. I looked that up and it means that I have too much fat round my stomach and eat too much fat. Must have been to 2 plates of ice cream I had night before. never have ice cream usually so why did I pick that night to have it. It was so nice I had to have another plate. Have to wait for all the other tests to be analysed by the doctors and report sent to me within 21 days.
Johnny's results that are back showed nothing but they are still growing cultures so they've ruled out asbestosis and soil born germs but still checking for things like TB (my brother-in-law has that one and we did visit him so fingers crossed). Anyway he has increased one of Johnny's drugs to am & pm and we go back in 8 weeks when all the tests will be back. He's not coughing as much since the flush out but he is starting up again now and sucking his soothers again.
Nev it's not the red coke that I was drinking occasionally it was the black coke which contains aspartame. I think it was a coincidence that I havent' had any for a while and the fingers improved. They have been stiff again this week. I'm putting it down to potting. When I've had a big day potting and pushing that mix down hard the next day my fingers are frozen and sore. If I haven't done too much potting they are less stiff and sore. Ah well if I have to swallow nurafen and use the nurafen gel to help then I'll just have to cause the potting needs to be done.
Dalfyre we enjoy a scotch and dry but Johnny insists it has to be with kirks dry not any others as it tastes different. I can't taste that much difference but if it makes him happy I'll drink it anyway. I also like a wine since I can't drink beer with wheat in it. A friend is making me some gluten free home brew so I may be able to enjoy a beer again soon.
I checked that white centred cryptanthus today and it does have a pup or two on it. it is a slow grower as a lot of white broms seem to be. as soon as I get enough to take pups off I'll certainly let you know Nev.
Trish glad you had a lovely birthday, and Cody sounds like you had a good time at the fair as you went back again. love the rainbow.
Shirley I look forward to seeing you in next couple of weeks.

Pic 1 is my bob's baby which is a nice big albomarginated neo which is different to Jean's
Pic 2 is a cryptanthus wirley gig which is aptly named as it looks like a ride at the show. just took all the wirley gig arms off one pot of them and potted up the pups on the end. I think I have 6 of them. Still have another basket with all the long arms to show.
Pic 3 is cryptanthus marble green ... a Margaret Patterson hybrid which pups like crazy and I have several pots of it.
Pic 4 is my little garden gnome tending his tillandsia ionantha which is flowering again at present. this year you can hardly see the little guy behind all the tills. I've got so many tills flowering at present I've been crossing anything and everything. I've even tried putting foliage vrisea pollen on an ionantha. not holding my breath that that one will take but you never know. the only problem I have is how to mark which ones have been crossed and with what? can't hang labels off the little things and can't stick something in. I've tried hanging toothpics from inside the pollinated flower but they fall out or the colours fade. any suggestions for this problem Nev?

Must be off to bed. It's already tomorrow.
Night all
Wendy

Hi Wendy,i hope the both of you feel better soon.Thanks!! Yes,we did have a wonderful time last night.Its a good thing we went last night,because its raining again.We going to sleep in,in the morning.Alex is out of school for Fall break,so he is out for over a week.Love your pics!!!Take are!!!!
Cody

Good morning everyone – I don't know what rules Australia Post have in your area regarding the delivery of parcels, but here if you're not home to take delivery, a card was left in your mail box informing you that the parcel can be picked up at the local Post Office after 12 noon.. As you may have read, Wendy had sent me some pups which were expected to arrive yesterday (which they did, thanks Wendy). Now up until yesterday the lady who was the Australia Post courier would always knock loudly on the door and wait until I answered it as I had previously told her that if my ute was in the yard I was at home, but because of my limited mobility it took me a bit longer to the door. We had arranged that if the ute was there could she leave the parcel/s at the front door without waiting for me to answer it as I was often right down the yard anyway. We agreed on a spot out of the sun where she could leave parcels and that's what's been happening over the last four or so years with no problems. (Obviously this didn't apply to parcels that had to be signed for).

Yesterday I heard a knock and I just got to the door to see (a different courier) running out of the yard with a parcel in one hand and a card in the other – he then put a card in the letter box and jumped in his van and left. Now for me to have got to the door before he left I would have needed to be a sprint champion as he wouldn't have been there any more then five seconds. I went out and got the card and I noticed it was different to the red and white cards we usually get as it was blue and white, and on it it said that the parcel could be picked up at the Oak Flats Post Office but not before 4.00pm.

Now Oak Flats is a small town fifteen minutes away by car and not just up the road like our local P.O. Anyway my wife drove over there at 4.00 and was informed that any future parcels would be sent back there because the local P.O. didn't have enough room to hold them any more. My wife was then asked for ID and quizzed why her I.D. differed to that on the parcel and she explained she was my wife (and a woman not a man) and why she was doing it on my behalf. She was told it was a “new procedure” and the name on the parcel had to match the name on the ID and after a rather heated discussion she was reluctantly given the parcel........ Obviously Australia Post doesn't realise that we do have people in our communities with disabilities. So I guess I'll just have to sit on the front porch with a book in future while I wait for the new courier so I can train him! The other question I would also ask is, what if we don't have a car? Do we take a bus and a cut lunch and make an outing out of it? Sorry there I go again, now back to Brom. business.

Jean – I agree with everything you say about not being aware of the continuing subtle colour changes in plants. About five years ago I selected three different Neo's, a plain coloured one, a spotted one and a variegated one. I then took pic's of them each month for the next year to use in a talk I gave at our Bromeliad Society called “Don't ID a plant from a picture”. Unless you actually saw these pic's you wouldn't believe the possible colour changes. Unfortunately I lost the disc these pic's were on; but it is certainly a worthwhile exercise any of us can do and I'm sure you'll be surprised at the results.

Jean why don't you take pic's of the same plants in the same locations each month for the next twelve months as I'm sure you won't recognise some of them. I don't know Neo.'Takemura Sun' but certainly all of the other I do, and you'll particularly find the colour changes in “Perfect Red', 'Bob's Baby' and 'Lambert's Pride' unimaginable. The 'Nobel Descent' I have seen almost yellow, but that was grown in the open with no overhead protection at all and was used as an “accent plant” in a garden of dark foliage plants.

Theresa – Wow! After those drink recipes you wouldn't be feeling any cold symptoms at all; in fact I wouldn't be feeling anything, as I'd be on the floor. I reckon after a few of those, your Bill. Nutans would begin to look more like a big clump of Bill. 'Hallelujah'.

Cody – It's great to hear that you and Alex are spending some special “one on one” time together and enjoying yourselves.

Wendy – Good to hear the tests aren't too bad and can be improved by cutting out all the good things like sweets, ice cream, chocolate etc but then you don't eat these anyway do you???????

Great news about the test for asbestosis on Johnny was negative, that's a very nasty one ruled out and pretty well all the other possibilities are treatable anyway.

As for aspartame – I wouldn't touch it with a forty foot pole. They tell us that too much sugar isn't any good for us, well neither is too much of anything – remember the old saying our parents told us “everything in moderation”. This is what we should all be doing and we'd have less medical issues (myself included) but aspartame will cause you much more harm than sugar (even in excess). Sorry I'm back on the box again, so I'll just say read what's on the site below and it will open your eyes.
http://www.thelibertybeacon.com/2013/05/09/aspartame-poison-the-silent-killer/

Nice pic's Wendy especially your 'Bob's Baby'. Tell me how do you put the names on the pic's? I did it once on my old computer but don't remember how I did it.

As you probably read above, the pups you sent arrived yesterday thanks, and I'll get something together to send back but I'll let you know when I send them.

As for you hybridising the Till., it is possible to cross Till's with Vrieseas as they are both in the same family and you finish up with a bi-generic hybrid called a xVrieslandsia . As for marking the flowers I can't speak from experience as I haven't done any myself but I have read where with smaller flowers you can mark them with fine bits of fishing line pushed into the flower to indicate which ones you pollinated. Because you can't individually tag the flowers I would either use different coloured fishing line or easier still, use the same pollen on all flowers of that particular plant, and if you want to use different pollen, use it on another plant of the same name.

I'll finish now and the first pic.is Neo.'Catlan's Leopard' the remaining ones are all earlier hybrids of mine. Pic.2 is Neo. concentrica x ('Charm' x 'Cracker Jack') and just to show the variations possible with hybrids the Plant in Pic.3 is from the same batch of seed. Pic.4 is Neo.'Painted Lady' (sport) x concentrica (showing a little cold damage) and Pic.5 is Neo. concentrica x 'Painted Lady' (sport) which is a reverse cross of the plant in Pic.4.

All the best, Nev.

Nev, just a quick hint. If you have Vista as we have, click once on your pic, click on file up in the top left corner .
Click on edit..
You will get a page with your pic and colors along the top and all sorts of little things on the side.
Get an old pic and copy it , then play around with all the different signs. You can add colored names or chop bits off pics.
There are other ways and software, but I find this way quick & easy for me , being a non computer nerd...lol
Jean.


This message was edited Oct 5, 2013 10:33 AM

Nev,thanks we have been enjoying ourself.I have always been a diet dr pepper drinker.Like you say nothing in this world is good for anyone,but i have to have my diet dr peppers.I also drink bottles of water too through out the day and night to flush everything out.By the time i go to bed every night i drink about 3 bottes of water.Not counting the water i drink during the day.I have drink them my whole life.Around here you see alot of people drinking them.Sometimes it is hard to found them in the stores,because alot of people drink them.Take care!!!
Cody

This message was edited Oct 4, 2013 7:51 PM

Hi all It is time for me to put in an appearance again.I haven't been able to get much computer time lately with family here. I think staying with family is a bit like fish, after 3 days things start to go off a bit.
I have used some of my time to continue catalogueing my plants, each with a unique number, written on a list and photos of each. I am up to 680 individual plants with still a lot to go and that is only out the back, then thers are a few around the side and a heap out the front. It is daunting but interesting.I have to sort out some plants for sale tomorrow and some for our field day raffle.
I tried to pollinate a small growing Vr with Vr RoRo and tied a bag tie around the flower ti ID which flower I had pollinated. I have no idea whether it will work or nor. What I am trying to achieve is a small marginated plant. Fingers crossed.
I love all the pics but do not have time to answer all today
Have a good one
Ian
Pic 1 Ae distichantha intermedia
Pic 2 Ae Prieto
Pic 3 Ananas Tricolour
Pic 4 Androlepsis skinneri
Pic 5 Canistrum Flare

Ian,at lease you get to spend time with Blade and watch him grow.

I heard if you put a piece of apple in the pot and put a bag over the plant it will flower.Now rather its true or not,i don't know.Love your pics!!!Take care!!!
Cody

lol Nev - wouldn't suggest trying all those whisky drinks at one sitting...

just one before bed is good for what ails you :)


cheers - Teresa

Hi everyone - Here we are again at the end of another weekend and another week closer to Christmas. I had a really good day yesterday at the monthly Bromeliad Society meeting which was a “bit special” as one of our founding members was presented with the “President of Australian Garden Clubs Award” for his work in horticulture at the Wollongong Botanical Gardens along with all of the work he has done with our own society. Phillip Robinson is a quiet unassuming man who “gets things done” and is always happy to share his knowledge with anyone prepared to listen. His award is very much deserved and it couldn't have gone to a nicer bloke.

Jean – Thanks for the tip about putting names on pic's but I don't have Windows Vista I'm still using the old Windows XP. I tried following your instructions anyway and clicked once on a pic, clicked on file up in the top left corner, but there was no edit facility.

I'm very computer illiterate or as you describe it “a non computer nerd” but I'm sure that somewhere there's a way to do this that even blokes like me can use successfully. My preference is for a way to put a non-obtrusive name on brom pic's (perhaps right at the bottom of the pic) so that the name is there but it doesn't detract from the pic itself as so many often do.

Cody – I'm fortunate because where I live we have a very good town water supply which I've been drinking straight out of the tap most of my life. I know people will say it has chlorine and fluoride in it and both are poisons, but used in the tiny quantities they are, they do just what they're meant to do and that's purify the water supply and help prevent tooth decay (at 74 I still have all my own teeth). I just can't understand why people now drink bottled water if there is a good water supply available. Bottle water isn't always as pure as they claim as it does still have all the bad as well as the good bacteria in it. Dentists have now come out and said there is an alarming rise in child tooth decay which they relate directly to the increase in drinking bottled water not treated with fluoride. Besides, there is also the cost; tap water is free and bottled water isn't!

Ian – Time you came back mate, it was getting a bit lonely being the only bloke here. I know exactly just how having visitors (be they friends or family) can disrupt the usual routine, unfortunately it's a fact of life that these things do happen from time to time. I think also that the older we get, the more of a routine we have and the more we dislike this routine being disrupted, however this sometimes does happen and we just have to “wear it”. Do what I do and tell yourself it won't be for much longer.

Cataloguing plants can be a very time consuming job, I know I've just finished doing all of my Neo's; but it does make it much easier to keep track of your plants, providing of course that you continually keep the list updated and delete plants swapped or sold and add plants swapped or purchased. I really do need a secretary to do this though as it takes me away from the “hands on” jobs in the garden.

Gee Ian, you're jumping right into the deep part of the pool when you start hybridising with variegated plants, be they albo-marginated or any other sort of variegation. There are a lots of factors to be considered when selecting parents as the experts will all tell us, however there is always the odd occasion when we “crack it” just by accident as I once did and didn't it p.ss off the experts when I wrote on the forum how I did it and what I used.

Apparently it was a closely guarded secret by all of those hybridisers who had previously bred variegated plants. In the end one of the very well known hybridiser came out and said that it was genetically impossible to breed variegated plants from the parents I used even though I had the photographic evidence to support this.

Without boring everyone with all of the details, I can probably save you a bit of time by saying that it's pretty well proved that if you use an albo-marginated plant as the seed parent, most of your seedlings will be albino and useless. Also just by crossing two variegated plants together won't necessarily give you variegated offspring. In fact, quite often it never happens. It has however been found that to breed variegated plants you need a “transmitter” (a plant which will produce a percentage of variegated offspring). It also has been found that very often these “transmitters” are variegated plants with very fine and not always clearly defined variegated markings.

Suffice to say that a hobbyist getting into this area will find the plant genetics are often very much a complicated mix match of genes and there is no definite rule which will guarantee a definite result. It has however happened on occasions in the past, seedlings produced by inexperienced hybridists have sometimes turned up surprising results and there's no reason why this can't happen again in the future. So I say good luck mate and “go for it” and please don't forget to show us what you achieve.

Here is a very interesting thread on this topic but you may need to first join as a member of Garden Web Bromeliads Forums to access it. Membership is free and remember when asked for your zip code (post code) add a 0 before the first number as the US have five digit codes where we only have four. http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/bromeliad/msg12180904532.html

That's very interesting mixture of plants in your pic's today. I don't know if everyone knows or not but there are several different forms of Ae distichantha. This particular group of plants has been described by taxonomists as “An interpretive nightmare” The large most commonly grown one is called Ae. distichantha v. distichantha which grows to about 3' in height in my area and has viscous spikes on the leaf tips that can penetrate to quite a depth in you're not careful; a small one Ae. distichantha v. glaziovii (about 10” high) and several of intermediate sizes such as Intermedia which you show, as well as distichantha v. schlumbergeri, and the alba form of distichantha v. distichantha f. albiflora. There are pic's of them all on the FCBS site as well as an interesting article by Derek Butcher.

Ae Prieto is very similar to Foster's Favourite both in foliage colour and flower form, however I have no experience with the other three as my climate doesn't lend itself to these warm loving types.

Theresa – I'll definitely heed your warning as I had a very bad experience with whiskey in the past which usually happens when you get a non-drinker out for the night with a few hardened whiskey drinkers... need I say more?

No Brom. pic's today, so I'll have to break the rules and post an orchid picture instead, It's a little NOID Dendrobium Nobile type I had given to me by a friend once and I thought it woth sharing with you all.

All the best, Nev.

Nev,people rather drink bottle water any day over tap water.Tap water isn't all that good,because if a pipe bust and then you have dirt and know telling what else going through your pipes.Then you have to boil your water for so manys weeks.Yes,bottle water is not cheap,but that is the only water we will ever drink.I can't stand the taste of tap water.I have not drink tap water in years.
Cody

ChCh water is very pure - we have underground aquifers so the water is naturally filtered :)
Have to say it is the best tasting tap water I have ever had.
Brisbane I hated the water, you could smell the chlorine on a hot summer day!

After the earthquakes we all had to boil our water as the pipes were in a bad way...
I was so glad when we got the all clear to use our tap water again!

Hi Everyone!

I had a great time with mum in the garden as well as mum tried her hand at splitting and re-potting Joe’s orchids which was very helpful and she did a fantastic job with them and really enjoyed learning how to split / re-pot them. Mum and I mainly cleaned / watered my outside broms and we re-potted a few that Lucy and Lexi had knocked over chasing yet another snake they had killed.

Went fishing again with Mum and Joe yesterday but the only person that caught anything was Joe who managed to catch a nice sized “Grunter” which we took home for mum to eat.

We also went to one of our local market and mum brought me a flowering Aechmea that I did not have and we discovered a pup on it when we got home so that was a nice surprise. I also brought a really nice “shrub”, (I know and “shrub” not a “brom”) called “Dancing Lady” that really caught my attention as it had striking red branches and lovely mottled shades of green on the leaves.

Hi Nev thank for the belated birthday wishes, I don’t get too concerned about how old I am as I am and celebrate each birthday with a passion that normally ends with a hangover the next day he he. Mum said “Hi Back Nev” and has been enjoying reading this brom forum as well as checking the broms out on EBay as she does not have a computer back home. Mum is enjoying looking things up on the computer and seeing what some of the plants like Lillies she has at home are called.

Nev luved the pics you posted on 2/10, that Neo. ‘Dunmore Ruby’ of yours always catches my eye and I have to blow it up big to take a closer look at its beauty.

Hi Cody I hope you and Alex are well!!! Thanks having a great time with Mum and come the evenings we are total exhausted and find it hard to keep our eyes open when we are in front of the TV.

Hi Tash, thanks had a great birthday but woke up with a sore head the next day he he.

Tash I adored your Aechmea Roberto Menescal, what a beauty that one is. I saw what one went for on EBay the other day and was totally blown away – ah to dream.

Hi Jean thanks having a great time with my Mum who is having a great time amongst our broms and orchids and looking forward to packing her up a big box of broms for her to take home.

Hi Shirley thanks having a great time with my Mum and we are jam packing as much as we can in a day like fishing, gardening and sightseeing, with a few nanna naps thrown in there for the times when we struggle a little and need to have a bit of a break he he.

Shirley I just discovered some seed pods on my Neo’ ‘Justins Song’ which was great because I got to show mum where and what the seed pods looked like, so it’s timing was perfect.

Hi Wendy thanks had a great birthday and it’s been fantastic catching up with family as well as friends also. Wendy great to hear your tests weren’t too bad as well as the positive feedback with Johnny’s health, that’s great news.

Hi Ian sounds like you have been busy as usual and busy counting broms and cataloguing them.

Hi Teresa, hope your well!!!

Anyway time to put the kettle on as I keep promising everyone I will make them one he he.

Hi to anyone else looking in or on the sick list.

Take Care and Happy Gardening!

Trish

Pic 1 - Neo. 'Red River'
Pic 2 - Neo. 'Fruit Cake'
Pic 3 to 5 - Random shots

Hi everyone,

sorry I have missed a couple of days. I have been feeling a bit ‘off’ due to yet another tick bite … they do seem to love me.

Nev, I don’t mind a drop of wine but I get an allergic reaction when I drink it. Within minutes my skin flushes red and I virtually “glow in the dark”. Not a pleasant sensation so I generally abstain.

Nev, I’m always happy to visit a brom grower/seller so I will try to get one of those Ae Nudicaulis pups for you but it may take a little while.

Nev, I will attach a pic of one of your Concentrica X (Charm X Cracker Jack) seedlings which I love and which I have called ‘Nevs Best’ for my own reference.

Jean, I will try to get you a pup from that Ae Nudicaulis too. I have put you down for a pup (after Nev) in case I luck out from the seller I got it from. Your broms are getting some nice colour.

Therese, I like your ideas for a cure for a head cold.

Wendy, my fingers and hands are always stiff first thing of a morning especially if I have given them a workout the day before. Hope to catch up with you soon.

Trish, great that your mum is enjoying her stay with you. Love your pics, in particular neo Fruit Cake.

Hope everyone has a great Labour Day hol.

Pic 1 – NOID – purchased as neo Perfecta Tricolour, pic 2 – neo Lava Swirl, pic 3 – my favourite of Nev’s seedlings, pic 4 – random garden shot.

Bye for now, Shirley

Hi Trish,we are doing well,thanks for asking.So glad that y'all are having a great time.Love your pics!!!Take care!!!
Cody

Hello everyone.
My fingers dont want to work this morning.
Its 2C here at the moment with fog.
We have had 2 lovely warm days and yesterday started out the same, but up came the clouds and it rained all afternoon.
My poor broms will be in shock after the warmth and now down to such low temps.

One thing for sure , they are certainly going to be clean after all the rain.

Nev, I love reading your posts as you have such a lot of interesting info.

In regard to the tap water versus bottled... well you would not want to drink our tap water.
It wasnt too bad years ago, but the "powers that be" decided to put us on a new water supply. ugh..
We do have an old water tank we use for our cuppas as it gets boiled so is okay.
For drinking water , its all bottled.

Trish, lovely to hear all about the fun you and your mum have had.
Maybe she will get a computer to keep looking up all those plants...lol
I hope she has great fun when she gets home, with all the planting and arranging of the new broms.
Can you please tell me what is the beautiful large pale brom in your last pic ( 6/10) ?

Shirley, thank you so much for the offer to see if you can get one of those broms for me. I will reimburse you for any costs.

I do like your last pic and I never thought of having some of my succulents among the broms. I must try some of the smaller ones.
Interesting to see your neo Perfecta tricolor.
I have one here bought as a novar.
I also have the similar one neo Imperfecta.
I will wait to see how they color up in the warm weather .

Hello Cody, nice to see you are enjoying more time with Alex during the school break.

Hello to everyone else.
The sun is coming out so I will be doing a bit more around the garden .

pic 1 is neo Imperfecta and Pic 2 is neo Perfecta Tricolor novar

Jean.

Hi Jean,thanks!!Yeah it is great to be able to spend more time with alex.It also gives us a chance to sleep in as well.He he!!! I am glad that the weather is better for you for a change.Love your pics!!!Take care!!!
Cody

Hi all, We had our field day yesterday and I think it was successful. I was feeling a bit off all day but participated as best I could. We had members visiting from Ayr,Bowen, Proserpine, Seaforth, Midge Point and our locals as well. We covered 5 gardens and at 4 of these we had sales points. I think that the sales were reasonably brisk.
Today I will pot up some seedlings and take it easy.
Have a good one all.
Ian
Pic 1 Neo Concentrica alba X Maurice Featherstone
Pic 2 Neo Gold Fever
Pic 3 Neo Bills Gift not coloured
Pic 4 Ae nudicaulis red form
Pic 5 Ae Red Bands

Hi everyone – What a busy weekend; the Royal Australian Navy's 100th birthday and all of the Sydney Harbour celebrations that went with it as well as the NRL Grand Final with the Roosters beating The Sea Eagles (the team everyone loves to hate). Now that's all over I can get back to growing brom's again.

Cody – Often bottled water isn't all it seems either; recently in Australia a bottled water company was fined for filling the bottles directly from the tap of the town water supply. Another misconception is that all spring water is pure and this isn't always necessarily so either. A short distance from where I live there is a road which goes up the escarpment to other towns away from the coast. About halfway up this pass is a spring where for many years a lot of the local Scotch drinkers went to get water to have with their Scotch because it was said to be the purest water in the district. When the university did a survey to see where this water came from they found it started in a small creek on top of the escarpment and as they followed this creek to see where it came from they were shocked to find the rotting carcass of a cow half in and half out of the creek.........So you see, things ain't always as they seem.

Theresa – I too remember the smell of Chlorine in Queensland water and it was fifty years ago when we were on our honey moon in Surfers Paradise. It worried me so much that I went down to a local chemist and enquired about it and if it was safe to drink. I was assured me it was OK, but it certainly smelled different to the water I was familiar with. Maybe they just had to overdose the water supply to kill a particular bug at that time, who knows?

Trish – It sounds like you're having a “ball” with your Mum and it's great to see you share similar interests.

You say your Mum doesn't have a computer and if she's anything like I was she probably says she doesn't want one and wouldn't be able to learn how to use it. However my kids kept on to my wife and I and eventually we got one and I must say although I'm always complaining about it, getting a computer is one of the better thing I have done, especially now I know how to negotiate the various brom forums. Try and talk your Mum into getting one as well, as I'm sure she'll get a lot of enjoyment out of it on those “bad weather days” when she can't get out in the yard. Lots of Senior Citizens Clubs now run various computer courses for seniors and as well as getting support while she learns how to use it she will make some more friends as well.

I think the main thing I like about 'Dunmore Ruby' is the natural gloss on the leaves; it doesn't matter what time of the year it is, it always looks like the leaves have just been cleaned as though it was being prepared for a show.

There were a couple more from that grex with similar colour and better shape but they don't have the shine on the leaves. There is another one I may register yet but I'll have to wait until I can get a decent pic of it and at present it's full of seed capsules as I'm using it to breed with.

As I look though your pic's today, the plant that stands out for me is the light coloured Neo. in Pic.5.
It certainly looks different and makes a real feature plant among the others. Can you tell me the name please?

Shirley – The reaction you get when you drink wine could be from one of the chemicals they use during the wine making process. Also some people I know who have had reactions, have a known allergy to eggs and eggs are also sometimes used in the final process to “clear” the wine.

There are quite a few wineries who are concentrating on organic wines now just for people like yourself. There are no chemicals used in the production of these but possibly still eggs as these are a natural product. Anyway, probably worth a try to see how it goes. I have tried some, and believe me they tastes just as good as the non-organic wines.

The plant in your first pic. interests me because besides being a nice colour, it has an unusual compact upright type of growth which is a bit unusual and I'd be interested in seeing another pic in a few months time or perhaps when it matures.

Your second plant definitely isn't 'Perfecta Tricolor' as it isn't variegated and 'Perfecta Tricolor' is. See: http://botu07.bio.uu.nl/bcg/bcr/index.php?genus=NEOREGELIA&id=6275#6275

It is a nice coloured plant though, with obvious Neo. concentrica influence and could still mature into something special.

What was the crossing of the seedling? There's certainly some prominent markings on it and once again I'd like to see what it looks like at maturity. Another thing I have found with seedlings is that the plants that mature from subsequent pups always seem to be a better shape than the original seedling. I don't know why but perhaps someone here with more knowledge than I can explain.

Jean – I was just getting poised to press the “send” button when the message came up to say you had posted, so I thought I'd go and have some breakfast and then finish off my post. Now I find that Ian has posted also so maybe I won't get to send this any time soon. Anyway, it's good to see everyone posting and sharing their information with us all so keep up the good work.

Sorry to hear your weather is still unstable, it was cold here yesterday also and this morning started out cold and then the sun came out and looked promising, but as I look out the window now it's clouded over again and is spitting rain...... talk about unsettled weather when will it stabilise?

I drank water from a house tank right up until just after we got married and they connected the town water. We always said the tank water tasted much better than town water; but when I think back as a kid when we climbed up on the tanks and sometimes took off the strainers to see how full the tanks were and forgot to put them back on, next time we looked we sometimes found a dead frog floating in the water we drank. It makes you wonder just how dangerous these things really are, I mean, with one dead frog diluted in 800 gallons of water, you wouldn't taste too much frog would you?

Your Neo.'Imperfecta ' is looking good Jean, you must be doing all the right things.

Ian – I like your albo-marginated plant of Neo Concentrica alba X Maurice Featherstone in the first pic, it has great clean and clearly defined margins and looks like an albo-marginated plant should look. Your next plant of Neo.'Gold Fever' is always a winner in any company, it's one I've had for years and is one I'll always grow.

I don't know about Neo. 'Bill's Gift' as I haven't seen it before, but when I looked it up it is quite interesting: http://botu07.bio.uu.nl/bcg/bcr/index.php?genus=NEOREGELIA&id=9728#9728

I think the Ae.nudicaulis red form has now been given a name but can't remember what it is at the moment so I'll get back to you on that one.

Ae. 'Red Bands' previously was getting around down here under the name of Ae. Triangularis 'Red Bands' as it was thought to be a form of Ae.triangularis; in the U.S. it was also called 'Seaborn's Red Bands', anyway to save confusion it was registered as Ae. 'Red Bands' in 1977. The info about this plant on the BCR is well worth a read and can be found at:
http://botu07.bio.uu.nl/bcg/bcr/index.php?genus=AECHMEA&id=486#486

Just a few file pic's from the web to finish with today as I've been lazy over the weekend and not taken any new ones. Today's pic's are of the genus acanthostachys, and there are only two from this genus that are recorded and very easily grown by hobbyists and they are both quite different in appearance. Pic.1 is acanthostachys strobilacea which is the most commonly grown plant of the two listed, and the flowers are unusual as they are located about midway along the thin long leaves which will hang down as they get longer sometimes reaching up to 30” in length. Pic.2 shows the flower in close-up and we can see how they somewhat resemble tiny pineapples. Pic.3 shows the plump seed capsules which usually contain thirty or so quite large, easy to grow seeds. Pic.4 is acanthostachys pitcairnioides and as you can see, it is a very different plant with vicious "skin tearing" spines all along the thin leaves. The flowers differ in colour as well and are located right down near the base of the leaves. Pic.5 is a close-up of the flower and clearly shows the unusual backward facing vicious leaf spines.

All the best, Nev.

Hi Nev,i know what tap water taste like compared to bottle water and i will always drink bottle water anyday over tap.Bottle water doesn't last long in the stores around here either.Love your pics!!!Take care!!!

Nev,the bottle water i drink is Dasani water.It is bottled by the Coca Cola Company!!!!
Cody

This message was edited Oct 6, 2013 8:43 PM

Well, home now and trying to get my head around things. Seems strange to not have to keep moving on each day. To welcome me back we had a 41.2 max temp. But there had been rain, late September and a couple of days before I got back. I know this from my weather station, you'd never guess it from looking around on the ground.

The wallabies had a field day, so many plants shredded or chewed to the ground. The broms were generally okay, apart from another one unceremoniously dumped from its pot. The Bilbergia nutans they chewed and used as a football before I went away looks like it may not survive.

Now the big job of getting as much done as possible before I have to go away to work.

On the subject of chlorine in water, I have bore water at home and also where I work. During the trip it was difficult drinking some of the water especially when it was heavily laced with chlorine as some of the water authorities do. A few years back hiking in PNG I took water purification tablets (which are chlorine based) with me. But I managed to avoid using any. Just hate that taste.

Some pics, my red pineapple greeted my return with a developing fruit. Also some of my ordinary pineapples are fruiting. Surprising as they were neglected for years and only a couple of months ago I started to set them up in a reasonable bed.