BROMELIADS IN SUMMER ..2014

Hi everybody,

An excellent sunny day here today, but it has come over a bit cool tonight.

Teresa, I would rather lay in a pit of snakes and spiders than be in the CBD when an earthquake is happening. I can only remember 2 tremors around Sydney. One must have been in the mid 70's. woke up to hear the 'old man' running down the back, he thought the old boiler had blown up haha. The other I was sitting having some lunch up at Wentworth Falls in the Blue Mountains when the ute was moving a bit as if it was windy. Thought that was a bit strange, then heard later they had a big quake up at Newcastle about 200km away.

Colleen, On New Years Eve every year I have to stay home with our dog, as he absolutely loses it from the fireworks. I would be interested in a sedative for him as I have to bring him in and sit there with my hands over his ears to try and calm him down.

Nev, I had a chuckle about your comments on the amount of toilets in your neighbours house, but it is very strange to have more toilets than bedrooms I thought.
I really like the look of your Vriseas in the pictures, especially the 'Aussie Beauty Eden'.

Shirley, I hope your Molly is getting better by the day.

Hi also to Jean and Trish.

Brian

Hi everyone. Teresa it's a bit of a toss up for me mmmmm snakes or earthquakes??? neither thanks. I wish I was mortgage free, it would make life a lot easier, but I didn't start buying until the late 90's and lots of upsets in the meantime have seen me paying the least that i can off each fortnight. I took the equity out to do things around the house like carport, tanks, painting and fixing things, built-ins, new stove etc, etc. Nev we have a steam friends heritage park a few miles away where they've built a railroad from Cobdogla water pumping station to Loveday pumping station and you can ride the train there and back. They also have working pump engines and lots of memorabilia about the old irrigation ways. Very interesting and lovely to just sit back on the train and watch all the fruit blocks go by. I'm so pleased that your little G/son enjoys his second-Sundays at the steam museum. Love the Vrieseas. 6 toilets my Godfather what are they dumb? I think that's just stupid, and I think that your comment was quite appropriate. Shirley I would love a pup from Neo. stellar blast please. You have some really beautiful broms. The colours are divine but I presume that's something to do with where you live. I'm really happy with the colours that i do get from some of my plants but i would imagine they would be far better where you are. Just give me a yell when you have one spare and let me know what you would like to swap. Nev the pyramidalis is really beautiful but imagine having a clump in the garden and at Christmas time, beautiful. It really annoys me when people just dig everything out without thinking or even leaving it for a season and seeing just what is there. Their lose I suppose. Well had better go and see what the boys are up to. Branden lost 3 loose teeth yesterday and Cameren lost one. Costly night for the toothfairy. The new teeth are all sitting there for all to see. Have a great night. Colleen. Just a random shot of the shadehouse. only about a third of what is actually in there. Colleen

Hello everyone.
Been busy here with my "large" garden...lol

I have been repotting a few brugmansias that had outgrown their pots.
Lucky the broms dont need repotting, but I will have a couple of pups to take off after the new year.
Everything seesm to like it here but the sun has been quite hot and a couple of leaves here & there a re a bit crispy.
I have tried to keep the plants out of any direct sun in the hottest part of the day, but even the morning sun can burn.
The broms are not affected so far. It seems more the softer leaf plants like the azaleas.
They will all survive.
My mini dahlias like the sun and are growing fast.

Teresa, I have been in a couple of serious quakes when living in West Australia.
It was like an invisible giant steam train coming at you, with all the noise.
Luckily no people damage but lots of trees and bricks damaged and a small town nearby called Cadoux,was leveled.
Its scary when you cant see what is affecting you, unlike floods, fire etc which can be seen, so you have a chance to escape.
Give Miss Mischief a pat for me.

Nev, glad to hear that your hand is slowly coming good. Take things slowly though. You dont want to do any further damage. The broms will all wait patiently for you to get to them.
Beautiful pics of those vrieseas.
I, too , had to laugh at the your comments on the house with so many tiolets.
My goodness, I would have commented too.
Do they use a different one each day, I wonder....lol
Nev,some of your thunder must have found its way down here. Yesterday, I was busily playing with potting mix and suddenly there was very loud thunderclap. I jumped and looked around as the sky was blue.
A few minutes later a large cloud came sneaking in over the top of the units. I hadnt been able to see it coming so got a fright when the thunder hit.
Just a few large drops of rain and it was gone again.
The pic I have added below is a closeup of my neo Aussie Dream. You asked for a closer pic in hope of an ID.
Its not a large brom, only about 8" across.

Brian,you will enjoy that butterfly bush. They do look pretty with the flowers waving around on the long stems. Once finished, you can cut it to the ground and it will regrow. they gradually form a small clump, but nothing invasive. You can also divide the plant when it gets bigger.
I love the one with the pink foliage and it does look so pretty among the green.

Shirley, as always your brom " resort" has some of the loveliest broms.
You must attract the " upper crust" of the brom world...lol

I hope you all enjoy a safe and happy Christmas and that the New Year brings lots of lovely surprises.

Hello to anyone I missed.
I am off outside to enjoy the sunshine before it gets too hot.

take care.
Jean.

Hi Trish, Jean, Diane and everyone else, especially anyone on the ‘sick list”.

Before our members start to reduce their postings due to Christmas commitments and lack of time; let me wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, and may all of your "Santa Bags" be filled with nice brom's.

Another nice day here again yesterday and we had a lovely day at the museum with our grandson and his parents. Mitchell’s high point of the day was when one of the men who operates the miniature trains, took him into the shed to see the other three little steam locomotives which weren’t running. One is being restored and the other two are in running order. The little bloke was dumbfounded and just gazed at them in amazement and our daughter said he was still talking about them when he went to bed last night.

Teresa – Like you, we too own our own house, mainly because we didn’t go in out of our depth when we bought it. We didn’t want massive house with a massive accompanying mortgage to go with it like a lot of our friends had. Ours is just a simple three bedroom weather-board house, and as I was a carpenter by trade (many years ago) I was able to do some renovations and additions to it myself when we bought it. The thing is, that it’s our home and it is paid for. When we bought it nearly forty years ago it cost us just $17,750. A recent estate agent valuation put it at over $600,000 because it’s in a prime, much wanted part of town with an ocean view.

Some people who only look at the dollar value tell us to sell it and get the money and move somewhere else, but why? It’s our home and we like living here in a debt free environment; why would we want to move to somewhere else where we don’t like just for the sake of a few extra dollars? I firmly believe life’s not just about dollars; family, happiness and security come first and we have all of these, so I tell them we ain’t going anywhere soon.

What you say about the use of vitamin “K” in the treatment for ingested rat poison confirms what I said about the active ingredient probably being Warfarin.

Prior to my recent operation on my hand, because I take Warfarin daily as a blood thinning agent, the level in my body had to be lowered to lessen the risk of uncontrolled bleeding during the operation. To do this I was infused with high doses of Vitamin “K” until it came down to an acceptable level to operate. Just with the daily dose I take, it took two days to bring it down to a safe level so I imagine with a dog that accidentally ingests a larger dose, it would take longer to reverse its effects. The good news is that it is reversible if treated in time.

Brian – I just want to clarify something you said, (I really like the look of your Vriseas in the pictures); the ones I posted yesterday weren't mine, they were all hybrids made by Jack Koning of Port Macquarie, they are well beyond my budget, so I just like to look at and share the pictures instead, that costs nothing.

We’ve had a couple of earthquakes in our area but the only one I witnessed was when I worked in the carpenter’s shop at the steelworks which would have been in the early sixties. Right opposite the carpenter’s shop was a place called the “rail bank” where all of the railway lines were stock piled about fifty feet high. When we heard this rumbling noise we all rushed to the front door thinking one of these large heaps of rails was collapsing and what we saw was a poor bloody crane chaser standing on top of the heap after just having directed a load, with the whole stack swaying from right to left beneath him.

The quick thinking crane driver lowered the large crane hook down and he was able to hang onto it until he was moved away to a safe area and lowered to the ground. It was rather funny afterwards as the bloke was interviewed later by a local newspaper reporter and he asked the crane chaser "how he would best describe briefly what he felt"; and after censoring this was his brief answer, “ Sh.. was trumps”!

I know the spectacle of fireworks has become an expected display every new year’s eve now, but other fireworks displays albeit much smaller seem to be popping up all over the country for other occasions unannounced at all times of the year, and these are the ones that we can’t protect our pets against.

When I was a kid we would all go to a friend’s farm every Empire Day night and New Years Eve where the kids had previously built a bonfire. We would light the bonfire and celebrate with a few Penny Bungers, Tom Thumbs, Catherine Wheels, Roman Candles and Sky Rockets, the loudest of these were the penny bungers which were no louder than a small car back firing; nothing like the magnitude of things today, but we all enjoyed ourselves and after the fireworks the adults would then go up to the house for a sing-along around the piano and us kids would run around the farm in the dark playing cops and robbers.

We would spend the next day looking for “fizzers” (Ones that hadn’t gone off), so we could get the gunpowder out of them and light it, I guess it was our way of re-cycling.

Maybe I’m just not in the spirit of things like other people, but as soon as I hear fireworks, I immediately think of the poor bloody animals and birds who must be terrified out of their wits. I also think of that money literally “going up in smoke” for the enjoyment of the spectators for ten or fifteen minutes when it could have been put to such better use helping the destitute who are going without and living night to night on the streets especially the forgotten young kids who are in this position also through no fault of their own. I guess some would say that I’m just another cranky old man, but that’s the way I feel.

Colleen – You say, “I wish I was mortgage free”, but then as a consequence of how you've managed things, you have something even more valuable, and that’s not just a "house", it’s something more valuable than that; you’ve created a "home", where you can bring up the boys in a loving environment with their animals and chooks and learn about all of the good things in life that money can’t buy.

I think we take too much for granted these days and place too much emphasis on the almighty dollar. I know we need money to survive, but we don’t need to go overboard like some people do. It’s often a struggle, but we usually manage to come through it OK and are mentally much richer for the experience and appreciate what we have all the more.

I’ve just looked up the Cobdogla Steam Friends Society site and see that their locomotives are 24” gauge like ours. For anyone not familiar with trains, 24” was a narrow gauge railway (half as wide as the normal gauge) and was mainly used for industrial purposes from the cane fields of Qld to the gold fields of W.A. and everything in between.

It’s great to see these small volunteer run groups working so hard to maintain these small railways in an operational capacity when it would be so easy to just ignore them and see them all sold off as scrap like so many others in the past. The thing is, that like all things of historical interest, once they are scrapped, there’s no turning back and they are gone forever. They are all part of our country’s heritage so let’s support these organisations who strive to keep them going.

What you say about Shirley’s climate having something to do with the magnificent colour she achieves with her plants is very true, but you still need to learn how to manage this extra light to achieve the best results without burning the bum out of your plants. I have seen some magnificent plants grown in the Melbourne area as well, and once again these growers have to learn how to manage the colder environment to prevent cold damage. No matter where you live, it’s all about experience and learning how best to work with the conditions Mother Nature has dealt out for you.

Like you say, it's sad to see these large clumps of brom's just being dug out and binned, but I must say in defence of the people who do it, a lot of them don't even realise what great plants they really are, especially if they buy the property with the gardens in a run down state and they are seeing the brom's at their worst.

Fortunately, some people who do know what they are will sometimes try and find homes for them and on several occasions the secretary of our Brom. Society has had letters from from these people offering "free brom's" to anyone who wants to come and dig them out.

It seems that Brandon lost a lot of teeth in one go; did he loose them by natural causes or is he trying to raise a bit of extra Christmas money to buy himself a present? Maybe because Cameron lost one, Branden was just trying to "trump him".

Oh to have a nice tidy shade house like yours where you can walk through without bumping plants. I could do the same if our block was twice as large or I cut down my collection by 75%, but then which ones would I get rid of as I like them all. It seems I'm stuck with wall to wall brom's whether I like it on not.

Jean - One of the claims of Seasol is that it can increase the plants' tolerance by up to four degrees during excessively hot or cold weather thereby lessening the damage to foliage. Since I've been using it I've only had minor leaf burning during the hottest parts of summer and no cold damage at all during the winter, so perhaps a drink of this may help your plants through the hot weather.

The plant in your picture I think is what was commonly sold around here as Neo. Aussie Dream 'Lovely Lady' or more correctly the name it's registered by, Neo.'Lovely Lady'. It's one of the better ones from the Aussie Dream grex and I've seen pic's of them grown in Thailand with stacks of leaves and near perfect shape which no doubt can be attributed to the climate (See Pic.1, although not a real good picture it shows the great shape and leaf stacking which the Thai growers are famous for. Although like a lot of variegated plants, it can sometimes be a little unstable but not as bad as many others and generally it remains pretty stable. It looks like your plant still has a bit of growing to do so could you please post a pic when it's mature?
See: http://registry.bsi.org/?genus=NEOREGELIA&id=5526#5526

That had better do me for today as I still have some more name tags to mak up in preparation for when I can start potting again. So once again I'll finish with some more pic's from my old files.

Firstly Neo. 'Lovely Lady' grown in Thailand which shows what a big influence the climate can have on a plant. We would love to grow plants with as much "leaf stacking" as this, but the down side is, that while they are stacking leaves, they aren't producing pups.

Pic 2 is Bill. 'Fascinator' (Grown in strong light) Pic.3 is Bill. 'Hallelujah' grown in good light while Pic.4 shows Bill. 'Hallelujah' (grown in low light). I know I'm always "banging on" about strong light for best colour, but even grown in low light, Bill. 'Hallelujah' can still produce attractive colours. Finally, Pic.5 is Bill.'De Nada' again grown in strong light.

All the best, Nev.

lovely day here today, been hard at work in the shop.

Awful situation in Sydney.

Just hope it can be resolved without innocent lives being taken.

Hi all,

Some good news, Crazy Molly is much better, even though she had another run in with a cane toad last night when she went out for a wee (on a leash) before going to bed, she is so quick. We spent the next half hour washing / wiping foam from her mouth to get rid of the poison. We half expected her to be really crook this morning but she seems fine … just so bloody slow to learn.

Nev, I love Jack Koning’s vrieseas, especially his recent hybrids.

Colleen, your shade house looks lovely. I took some pics of our back patio this arvo, I will post some for you to see. It looks rather cluttered and there is some temporary shade cloth here and there that looks a bit daggy but it serves the purpose while it is so hot. I love the view from the kitchen window, I have moved a few broms in amongst the succulents and love the effect. Hope the tooth fairy managed to find the boys’ teeth.

Thanks Brian, Molly is pretty much back to normal, back to her usual hyperactive self.

Jean, glad your ‘large’ garden is coming along so well. Love your neo Aussie Dream.

Nev, if you had a block twice the size of the one you have, you would still have wall to wall broms. I can’t walk through my shade houses without knocking over one or two broms ... as they grow larger, I move them further into the walkway and find I have to walk sideways to move through them. Watering is the hardest part as the hose always topples some of them. Need another shade house, I do.

Teresa, I agree … terrible situation in Sydney today.

Hi to Trish, Diane and anyone else looking in

Shirley

Hi everyone – Looks like another fine day here today so it will be a good opportunity for me to do my rounds of the yard to work out where I’m going to start working on my plants when these pins come out of my finger.

I have so much to catch up with I definitely need a “Plan of Action”, although I’ve had these before and find not long after I start working to the plan, I get side-tracked and before I know it, I’m off on a tangent doing something that wasn’t even part of the plan.

Anyway, it’s the best time of the year for brom’s with the Neo’s all showing their beautiful colour. The poor bloody seedlings in the three and four inch pots down in the back seedling house are now almost eighteen inches high in some cases and also showing some really nice colour. Unfortunately the shape isn’t the best, but I put this down to overcrowding so I’ll give them another chance and re-pot the best of them and put them somewhere where they have room to grow. I’ll take some pictures this morning to demonstrate just what the word “crowding” really means.

Teresa – I just saw the news and the hostage situation is over. Sadly, two of the hostages have been killed, and so was the person responsible.

The following is from Nine News this morning:

"Iranian-born Monis was shunned by the mainstream Muslim community for his radical views and was on bail at the time of the attack in relation to the murder of his ex-wife.

He first came to attention of police when he penned letters to the family of dead Australian soldiers seven years ago. He had also been charged with more than 50 allegations of indecent and sexual assault, reported to have occurred while he operated as "spiritual healer".

My question is; why was he on bail with all of these charges pending? Surely our legal system is too soft on these criminals.

Shirley – It must be a huge load off your shoulders to see that Molly is back on the road to recovery; unfortunately it seems that she’s a slow learner and will go on attacking Cane Toads.

Is there any way you could “Cane Toad proof” your boundary fences. I haven’t had any experience with these creatures, but how high can they jump? Would light wire netting attached to the existing fences keep them out? Although it might be cheaper and easier to put one of those cones around Molly’s neck when she goes out in the yard unsupervised instead; you know the type that vets use to prevent animals pulling out their sutures after an operation.

Yes Jack breeds some beautiful plants as does Peter Coyle from N.Z., however there are many other hybridisers both here and in N.Z. turning out some beautiful plants as well and it makes me wonder where it will all end. One of Jack’s latest creations is spotted (Just for Teresa) so that’s another avenue of breeding he’s now investigating (See Pic.1)

Your pic’s illustrate exactly what I’d like; a place to display my plants and still be able to walk among them but as far as I’m concerned I think it’s an impossible dream. Wait until you see tomorrow’s pictures and I’m sure you’ll agree.

Anyway, time to go again and today I’m posting some more of Jack Koning’s recent Vriesea hybrids. Pic. 1 is one of his spotted hybrids from his newest breeding line. Obviously he hasn’t given the name of the parents and is playing this one close to his chest. Pic.2 is Vr. ‘Franklin Forest’ x ‘Milky Way’, Pic 3. Is a colourful young plant from the Vr.’Angela’ x ‘Southern Cross’ grex, Pic.4 is another as yet unnamed plant from the “Dreamtime “ grex and Pic.5 is Vr. ‘Snows of Mauna Kea’ x ‘Milky Way’.

All the best, Nev.

Good morning everyone. It's hot here again. I think it's going to be an inside day today by the feel of it. I had better get the watering going. I potted up some more pups yesterday hoping that someone will come for some more broms for Christmas presents. They're the pups from the lawn clippings and have some roots so they'll be fine. Shirley your patio looks wonderful. I have been thinking about putting some of mine under the back verandah but I think it's too hot and dry there. I need some shade cloth down the western side to stop the sun a bit I think. I'm so glad Miss Molly is on the mend. The tooth fairy came. The teeth all magically appeared on the kitchen bench in a cup each. Branden teeth were ready to come out but he did give them a bit of help and Cameren gave his some extra wriggled so that he wouldn't be left out too. I thought that you would look up the Cobdogla Steam Friends, Nev. So glad your little fellow had a good time at the Museum. Building memories. All the Billbergias that I got from you Nev are looking great. I have quite a lot of Bills now. I love the flowers on them. We have to put extra shade up on the chooks yard today. I do let them out but we have one really friendly one and she wants to come in through the cat door all the time and eat the cat food, so I leave them locked up a bit longer some days. I came home from shopping the other day and when I opened the back door I thought that I heard her scamper around but i couldn't see her. About an hour later I went to go out the back door again and there she was sitting behind it. Little bugger, she knows where it's cool. Well had better go and get the water going. have a great day. Colleen.

Nev - all nice broms but yes the spotty one really appeals to me.

Colleen - we stayed with a friend who had chooks & they would march into the kitchen & chase the cat away from his bowl & eat his food.

Shirley - glad to hear Molly is doing better. Those cane toads are a menace.
They have cost Australia far more than the beetle they were introduced to control ever would have.

So sad to hear the out come of the Sydney hostage crisis.
When I heard the gunman was on bail & what his offences were I had to wonder why someone like him could make bail.


Take care
Teresa

Hi everyone - Its quit cool and overcast here this morning, more like a mild winter's morning than summer. It seems every day is different , just to keep us on our toes.

Colleen - Glad to hear the "Tooth Fairy"found your home and left the appropriate reward for the teeth.

How long does it take the pups to grow roots when you stick them in awn clippings and are the clipping fresh when you first put the pups in? We all may as well get the advantage of your experience with this method of producing roots on pups.

All my Bill's are looking good now as well, but like everything else, need a lot of dead leafing, tidying up in general and pups removed. I don't know whether I mentioned it to you previously, but the Bill. pyramidalis x 'Windigig Special' pups you got from me, can be a bit sensitive to very cold weather so when winter or Jack Frost comes knocking at the door, best if you give them some extra protection.

I've never had a chook come into the house via the dog door, but I did have a hen once who would follow me all around the yard like a dog. I think she just wanted to be on the spot in case I started digging in the garden where she would scratch around and eat the occasional worm I dug up.

Teresa - Yes I thought you'd like the spotted Vriesea, certainly a bit different for a Vriesea, although there are a few Vriesea species with spots but not as dense as the ones on that seedling.

It seems like your friend's chooks had the cat bluffed, certainly something a bit unusual. We once had a Willy Wagtail here who I've seen chasing our cat up the yard "dive bombing" her as she ran. Certainly very much an uneven match, but then when it's a mother protecting her nest I suppose fear goes out the window and they are known for being pretty feisty.

As for the hostage crisis in Sydney yesterday, I'm sure we'll hear much more about that "animal" being allowed out on bail with such a long list of convictions and it wouldn't surprise me if after the investigations have all finished, a few heads will roll.

That's it for today and now for the pic's took yesterday to show just what a mess my plants are now in due to lack of on-going maintenance. Pic's 1-4 show Neo. Seedlings in tiny 3" pots. These plants are large enough to be in 6" pots with lots of space to grow instead of their present crowder situation. I'm ashamed to be showing them in this state, but then we have to take the bad with the good and I can only do so much.

The problem here is that due to overcrowding. I don't know which ones are the better quality plants with nice wide leaves as they all now have narrow leaves where they have been reaching up for the light.

Pic.5 is a little seedling which looks a bit different as it has some of the radial red striping of the 'Rosea Striata' parent as well as some fine spotting which has been inherited from its other parent, 'Fairy Dust'.

Only time will tell what it's going to be like when it matures but at this stage it's certainly something different and looks promising.

All the best, Nev.

Nev - that seedling in pic 5 is a pretty colour as well as having interesting markings.

Hi everyone. It's been a beautiful day here. We got a lot of cleaning up done outside as it was very windy here yesterday. It blew lots of pine needles everywhere. The large ones from the Norfolk Island pine. I went around and took them all out of the plants and the boys raked and swept them up for me. Great little helpers when they want to be. Nev about the lawn clipping rooting boxes. Get a large, but squat 8" foam box and fill with lawn clippings. let dry out . I put some Rapid Raiser pellets through the clippings and then take the pups off the Mumma one and write a tag and stick it into the top and make a hole in the clippings to accommodate the pup. When the box is full I water them and it usually takes about 3-4 weeks in this weather and the roots start to come. I only water them again when the rest in the SH get watered, about once a week in this weather. It makes the job really easy for potting up. Just fill the pot up with pine chips and mushroom compost a sprinkling of RR and stick the pup in,[ the name tag is already written out] and water in. Hope some of you give it a try. Nev, I think that you need to get Ailsa to parcel all those poor seedlings up and send them over here so that I can repot them for you.lol They would be very squished in 3" pots I reckon. Never mind they'll survive and it won't be long before you can tend to them yourself. You are going to be a busy man aren't you? Well must go and see what the boys are doing. Good night. Colleen

Hi everyone - Not much time to write this morning as any minute, the grandsons will be arriving for the day so I'll try and keep this short.

Teresa - Yes that seedling seems to be a similar colour to Apricot Nectar at this stage, but who knows how it will turn out once it's mature. A lot can happen between now and then so I'm not getting my hopes up as I've seen small seedlings showing a lot of promise in the past only to turn out to be dogs when mature. (Sorry Miss Sugar a slip of the tongue)

Colleen - Thanks for the info on your pup rooting technique using lawn clippings, it might be a way for me to buy some time with all the pups I have to take off.

I haven't seen a product around here called "Rapid Raiser" so I'll have to look that one up. There's just so many different types of pelletised fertilizers around now and to think it all started from "fowlsh" when they first made "Dynamic Lifter ".

It wouldn't be as simple as just parcelling the seedlings up, I'd need to put them in a container
as what you saw in the pic's was only a small part of them. I should have listened to experienced hybridisers when they told me to cull ruthlessly in the early stages, but how can you toss out nice healthy little plants? I've always found culling the hardest thing about raising seedlings and I still do, but I can now see why it's so necessary.

That plant in your pic's looks similar to some of the ones from an early cross I did of Neo. concentrica x ('Charm' x 'Cracker Jack')

That's it from me today, all the very best wishes to you all for Christmas and the New Year and I hope your "Santa Bags" get filled with nice brom's.

Today's pic's are a mixture; firstly, a beautiful new unnamed Vriesea hybrid shown recently on the internet and bred by one of our Australian hybridisers, but I don't know who. Pic.2 is also another pic which was recently posted on the internet and shows an interesting bi-generic hybrid called xNidumea 'Midnight', Pic.3 is another off the internet, an oldie but still a very attractive plant called Neo. 'Red Macaw'.

Pic.4, I may have posted this wonderful group of Vr. Phillipo-cobergii previously, but I didn't explain that they were growing in the front yard belonging to a friend of mine whose home backs onto the National Park; the day after he took this picture, they were completely destroyed by feral deer from the National Park. Finally Pic.5; how much whiter can they make these wonderful patterned leaved Vrieseas? I think this hybrid from Peter Coyle in N.Z. is the whitest I've seen yet.

All the best, Nev.

Hi everybody,

Not enough days left before Christmas to get everything done, we will see how it goes.

All the plants are growing with plenty of pups everywhere. I don't know how the people with plants into the thousands get around to them all.

Teresa / Shirley, yeh unfortunate thing to happen to the people in Martin Place. I have to agree with Nev, can't believe the laws have allowed that bloke to be walking free. Makes you wonder who else like this is around. You must have some guts to be one of the Police and walk through that door knowing what is happening inside, incredibly brave.

Colleen, is the aim of the lawn clippings for the pups to grow roots before potting or just a time thing?

Nev, your latest pictures are brilliant. When you say in the past that some plants are out of your price range, what are some of the top prices. I liked a plant recently that was a really bright black and white striped affair but they wanted $150 for it, quickly put that down.

Anyway, hi to Trish and Jean.

Pics to finish

1...Bill. Hallelujah x Golden Joy flowering ( Billbergia flowers seem to just appear out of nowhere and brilliant looking)
2...Neo. Cruenta x Gold Fever.
3...Neo. Marble Snow, seems to be a bit more green than when I got it, but looks real healthy.
4...Not sure, real large spike on leaf edge.
5.. Bailey coming around to knock over some plants.

Brian

Hello everyone.
A dull morning here again. Yesterday it rained most of the day in very heavy showers. Quite cool too , where the day before one was getting around in short sleeves.

Today is the breakup of the group I go to at the hospital and we had our early Christmas dinner last Tuesday .
Nothing much to do now over the holiday period except play with my plants.
They are all looking extremely good even after the odd weather.
The broms are enjoying a bit of rain and the colors look bright.
I have pups popping out so that will keep me occupied as they grow.
The roses are all going to be a wild splash of color with all the buds coming.
Its just a shame the hot sun will crisp them quickly. Lets hope a few of those smaller clouds can cover the sun during the hot part of the day...lol

I have a bnuch of sparrows and blackbirds which hop among the plants getting rid of any insects.
I have been told there may be a possum or two in some places, hopefully not here. There is a large arboretum up on the hills at the back of the town so they may be up there.
Yesterday I met the fellow who brought all my broms and he said they are looking wonderful with flowers coming on a lot of them. I will get out to see them after the holidays are over.

Brian, your yard looks lovely and tidy. I think Bailey would be a very careful fellow. I think the smaller dogs with their more energetic movements probably knock a few more plants around than the bigger dogs who are more likely to try and avoid obstacles.
Depends on the breed of course.
I remember a labrador I had that never grew up.
She was a boisterous puppy all her life( although a bit slower with age)..

Nev, that near white vriesea is so beautiful, as is the pink one in the first pic. I also like the look of the nidumea. very unusual.
I did have a giggle at the thought of you gazing at your crowded seedlings and thinking of the work ahead of you.
The great thing about the broms is that are happy to grow whatever the conditions and will soon recover once repotted.
With broms around, you will never be bored with nothing to do..lol

Colleen, nice to hear that the boys did get something from the tooth fairy.
I did smile at your chook at the back door. They can be really tame and when it comes to food , very crafty...lol


Teresa. Hope work is going well for you and that you dont get over worked during the busy period.
Sugar will be be getting lots of little treats over the holiday time and I bet she knows just how to make the most of it too.


Hello Trish, hope your mum is feeling much better now and enjoying her broms again.

Shirley, you definitely need a new igloo at the resort for all the pups that are going to spring up from the pampered broms...lol

I am off this morning to the final day of our little group for the year.

Enjoy the festive season everyone and stay safe..
just a couple of old pics of my broms last year.
pic 2 is how they looked in September last year and the first pic is how they looked in December last year.
A good idea of how quickly they can color up in the right conditions.

Jean.

Hi everyone. Great to see you enjoying yourself Jean. The colour difference is amazing in your pics and look how they multiplied in only 3 months. lol Brian I used the lawn clippings to get some roots going so I can pot them up and sell. Some people would think that I cheated them if they didn't have roots. but I actually had one guy buy 2 out of the lawn clippings. I explained to him that they may not have roots yet but he wanted them so I think that he knew a little about broms, maybe a lot. Nev didn't you say that you pop some of your pups into a foam box of coir? It would be a similar thing only lawn clippings don't cost anything. The boys helped out again yesterday, we cleaned the top of the freezer that sits in the laundry. It was very dusty but they love to climb. While they were up the little ladder I passed up a bucket of warm soapy water and they washed it as well. The laundry door even got a wash. I have them making their beds now every morning. It looks a bit daggy but they are getting the hang of it. Well it's not long now to Christmas and I've done very little. The trees up and a few presents under there but the rest will have to be bought after I get paid on Monday. I would love to get presents for everyone but I can't so I'll just put nuts and nibblies on the table and offer them a drink and wish them a Merry Christmas. I hope someone comes and buys some plants for presents. Okay enough. Must go and get some things done. Have a great day. Colleen

Hi everyone - Well I went to the "Weekday Workers and Volunteers' Christmas get together at the Illawarra Light Rail Museum yesterday. It was a very nice relaxing day and I spent most of the day catching up and chatting to people I don't normally see on a regular weekly basis.

During the last few months the volunteers had built one of those dome shaped Pizza type ovens and everyone was giving them a hard time saying what a waste of time it was and it would never get used; well yesterday it was used to cook five chooks for the lunch which was arranged and cooked by Doris, one of our real live wire lady members.

I must say it was a resounding success with the only hiccup being it took an hour longer to cook than first thought and like anything new. it's a learning experience. Doris's husband reckons with some modification to the flue he can make it retain more heat and work better next time as he thought that a lot of heat was being lost up the flue. There were no complaints from the people who demolished all of the chooks though and for something that began as just a joke, it has been a great success.

Brian - Your Bill. 'Hallelujah' x 'Golden Joy' is looking nice and healthy and the fact that it's flowering says it's happy with how you're growing it. I just have a suggestion though, that if you increased the light a little more, you may get a hint of the "Golden Joy" gold colour into it, but don't move it at this time of the year, wait until the weather's cooler and you have a spare pup to experiment with.

You say, "I don't know how the people with plants into the thousands get around to them all"; and I agree with you, I have a large collection by "back yard standards" and I can't keep up with them. So for people with thousands of plants, I guess it would be a case of putting on more staff or installing automatic watering and fertilising systems; but then in my view, hand watering is the best part of growing brom's as this is the time you really get to look closely at each of your plants and really appreciate them.

Getting back to the disaster at Martin Place; during an interview, one of the police representatives said they were aware of approx. 100 "people of interest to police" in Australia who had links to these criminal terrorist organisations overseas. Apparently the police have their hands tied by stupid anti-discrimination laws which prevents arresting or deporting any of these people until they actually do something illegal, so it seems we have to wait for another situation like Martin Place to occur before police are allowed to do anything. It seems they are hung up in a reactive role where they should be allowed more scope to be proactive against these known criminals. ..........At this stage Nev. will get down off his soap box and shut up.

Without wanting to steal Colleen's thunder, I think the idea of the fresh lawn clippings is produce roots on pups quicker than they would normally be produced when potted in the normal way.

Using this method mimics what nurserymen always called "bottom heat"which was usually achieved with an electric "heating cable" beneath the potting mixture in the propagation box and which worked in much the same way as an electric blanket.

With new clipping when they are damp they will start to heat up as part of the composting process and it's the provision of this heat which I think induces the pups to produce roots more quickly. This is just my thoughts though, and perhaps someone else would like to add a some of their suggestion to the topic.

Brian, as far as my budget goes these days, anything over $20 is out of my range and that is why I prefer to swap plants rather than buy them. As and example of high prices asked for plants, there was a variegated Alcantarea put on Australian eBay last year and the starting auction price was $999. It was a new plant never seen before and obviously because of the "supply and demand" effect, it was sold for well over this price I was told but I wasn't told for how much.

I like your Neo cruenta x 'Gold Fever', I haven't seen any from this crossing before and I think the cruenta influence should make it able to tolerate stronger light more easily. Again with your Neo. 'Marble Snow', I have found you have to get the light just right to get that nice white colour. To little light and the green takes over, too much light and you will get pink blushing in the centre of the plant. It's a bit of a juggling act.

I think your last plant is either Aechmea orlandiana or one of the many orlandiana hybrids. It is a very hardy plant which needs strong light to bring out the best in its colours. You can see pic's of some different examples on the FCBS species Photo Index at : http://www.fcbs.org/pictures.htm It also grows well, when mounted on a tree.

Looking at Bailey reminds me of my little dog Clyde, he used to follow me where ever I went among the brom's and would even sit beside me all day while I was potting plants in the garage. I really miss my little mate, and it's very true that a dog is a man's best friend.

That's for for today and I'll finish with a few random pic's I took a couple of days ago.
Pic.1 Neo.'Blue Heeler', Pic.2 Neo.'Blue Thing' (I don't know why it's called this as it isn't blue) Pic.3 Neo.'Burgundy' x 'Gold Fever', Pic.4 Neo. 'Midnight Moment' just starting to colour up and finally Neo. ('Charm' x 'Cracker Jack') x 'Lambert's Pride'. This seedling was saved from the bin because it has promising colour. The narrow leaves are a disappointment but may just be the result off too much overcrowding so I'll wait and see what the pups can produce when grown under better conditions.

All the best, Nev.

Hi again – I don’t know what happened here this morning because when I checked immediately before I posted, Brian was the only other new post since yesterday, but just as I pressed the “Send” button a message came up to say there was a new post. When I looked I saw that I had posted at 2.58pm and Colleen had posted at 2.55pm which as it was just three minutes difference I assumed was pretty normal. However when I looked closer I see that Jean had also posted at 2.12pm. Can anyone explain to me why this post didn’t appear before I posted mine?

Jean – It seems to me that you are getting the variable weather that we are getting here, and each day seems to be different.

We have a lot of Sparrows here as well but they don’t seem to frequent the bromeliads, it’s the little New Holland Honeyeaters and the larger Spotted Honeyeaters that are always among the brom’s getting nectar and insects. Between them, frogs, skinks and a few spiders that live in the plants, any insect pests here seem to be well controlled. I sometimes wonder if gardeners just stopped using insecticides altogether, that in time, the birds, lizards, frogs and “good insects’ would probably return and do the job just as effectively without poisoning the garden.

Those pic’s I posted were just a few various new hybrids I randomly selected from pic’s posted on the internet, but it was the bigeneric xNidumea ‘Midnight’ that caught my eye as it was something totally different. When I looked it up on the BCR I was surprised to see it was bred way back in 1987 by DeLeon possibly in US as there was a Nat DeLeon hybridising around that time and it may have been him that made the cross. I’ve never seen it anywhere around here so maybe it never found its way to Australia. The seed parent was Nidularium innocentii v. innocentii and the pollen parent was Aechmea fasciata. See: http://registry.bsi.org/?genus=xNIDUMEA&id=9537#9537

Your pic’s certainly illustrate just how much the brom’s change from month to month. In fact I once took a series of pic’s over twelve months of exactly the same group of plants from the same spot each month. When you looked at them month by month there were just subtle differences during the colder months, but as soon as the weather warmed up everything was vastly different each month.

Colleen – Yes I do put some of my pups in boxes of fine damp coir, mainly as just somewhere to park them until I get around to potting them up. The difference between to two techniques is that your method with the grass cuttings will generate heat as they start to decompost as I explained in my previous post, and the Coco Peat remains at the same temperature. Based on this assumption, the grass clipping should encourage new roots quicker than Coco Peat but a trial is needed to see for sure. I have Coco Peat and no grass clippings as a bloke now cuts the grass and takes it all away, so maybe someone else would like to try a trial.

While we’re talking about promoting new roots, there is an interesting short video on the Seasol site about promoting new roots on Tomato cuttings. It’s the first video on the home page at http://www.seasol.com.au/ and well worth a look.

I like what you’re teaching the boys Colleen; a simple thing like making their bed isn’t difficult but is just something less that Nan has to do, and besides it teaches them to care for themselves. All of our kids could cook themselves a simple meal by the time they were nine or ten (supervised of course). Just a boiled egg or baked beans on toast, but a feed nevertheless. I know a young woman who can’t even make a pot of tea, she doesn’t drink tea herself and has never needed to make it but her mother didn’t even show her a simple yet important skill like that. After all, wasn’t it the pots of tea that kept England going during the second world war ?

Teaching kids these things does have its drawbacks though, I remember when I was younger and the kids were small, I had a sweet tooth and used to have three tea spoons of sugar and one teaspoon of coffee in a big coffee mug. One Father’s Day my two sons proudly brought me in a cup of coffee they had made while I was still in bed as a Father’s Day present. It was bloody awful! They knew they weren’t to boil the kettle without an adult present so they just used water out of the hot water tap; that combined with the incorrect recipe; one spoon of sugar and three spoons of coffee made the final awful mixture. All the time while I was screwing my face up, my wife’s saying under her breath, “you’ve got to drink it”, “you’ve got to drink it”. I did with three pairs of eyes watching every move and I’ve never forgotten it.

All the best, Nev.

Nev - good on you for drinking that brew made by your children.

We worked so hard to get the shop packed up for the truck this afternoon and instead they sent a van to take just the boxes.
The shop was supposed to be left empty but they left the counter, all the mannequins, racking, big printer, fridge ....
mall management were not happy, they have a tenant moving in tomorrow.

I just had to hand the keys over & walk away - I had tried to ring head office in Levin - only to hear a message saying they close at 3.30 on Fridays.

take care all - Teresa

He everyone.

Another nice day here today and a day closer to getting rid of these annoying pins in my finger,........ Come on Monday!

Looks just like you and me today Teresa, all of the others must have slept in; either that or my computer isn't showing all of the posts again.

I wouldn't loose too much sleep over the work at the shop; at least you did what you were supposed to do and I wouldn't mind betting that the driver of the large truck and the office staff were all having a Christmas Party, so it's now their problem to sort out.

Anyway nothing much to report so I'll just post a few pic's to finish with. The first is a little bi-generic plant I once got in a swap. I believe it originated in Queensland and is commonly known as xNeomea 'Kel' but doesn't appear on the BCR and is unregistered. The remaining pictures are all ex internet postings, the first of which (Pic.2) is the beautiful variegated Alcantarea 'Bobby Gold' which was bred by Bruce Dunstan of Queensland. Pic.3 and 4 show close-ups of just how beautiful the flowers of the common pineapple (Annanas) really are and Pic.5 shows the beautiful Alc. ‘Red Ensign’ which was bred by Andrew Maloy of N.Z.

All the best, Nev.

hi Nev - I've been busy taking photos of my lilies & pulling out the lettuces that are bolting.
Leaving a couple in to set seed for next time.
Will try collecting seed instead of leaving them to disperse naturally.

I picked a punnet full of lovely ripe strawberries this morning.
Hopefully the lilies & strawberries will still be going strong for Xmas day when we have family coming over.
I sprayed the driveway for weeds but I don't think it will have done the trick in time.


that Alc 'Red Ensign' is a nice strong colour.
The ananas flowers are nice, not something you normally associate with pineapples.

Hi all,

very hot here again today, makes working outside very uncomfortable. So much to do, so little time, as always. I don’t know how we ever found the time to work prior to retirement.

Nev, hope you manage to stick to your ‘plan of action’. We generally find we stray and end up doing something entirely different to what we planned. Gosh Nev, lots of your crowded seedlings are in flower, they must have been there a while. The seedling in your pic 5 is a winner. Great pics too, I especially like (Charm x Cracker Jack) x Lamberts Pride, wonderful colour .

Brian, I agree that it’s frightening to think what other maniacs / monsters are walking amongst us who should be locked up. Your plants look really nice, Bailey is a cutie too.

Jean, nothing to do but play with your plants … sounds great to me. I love the look of the nidumea in Nev’s pic too, will have to try to find one.

Colleen, your boys sound like such good kids, you have taught them well.

Teresa, sorry to hear that your job has finished, I’m sure you’ll get an even better one after Xmas.

Pic 1 – Canistrum Aurantiacum
Pic 2 – Neo Bea Hansen x Painted Lady
Pic 3 – Neo Purple Tears
Pic 4 – Neo Isabel Garnet
Pic 5 – Neo Aztec

Bye for now,
Shirley

Hi everyone - How I love to wake up of a morning to hear the magpies warbling as they sit on the handrail of the back deck singing for their breakfast. There's Mum, Dad and the three kids now and the kids are just starting to warble with one in particular putting in the occasional "wolf whistle" (I don't know where he learned that, as I stopped it years ago as it got me into too much trouble).

The room with our computers, is at the opposite end of the house and whilst I can clearly hear the Magpies, I can also hear the delicate twittering of the little Blue Wrens just outside the window in the dwarf bamboo. Between the two, it seems quite a pleasant musical competition.

Teresa - When I had my vegie garden I found that as soon as the warm weather was upon us the lettuce, silver beet and Bok Choy would all bolt to seed, although I did have a winter variety of lettuce that didn't seem affected and produced all through the year.

Like you I always saved my own seed as well, and I don't think it was so much about the money you saved, but more about the satisfaction you got from eating vegies that were grown from your own seed.

As for the ananas flowers I posted pic's of, they, like a lot of brom flowers often go unnoticed as growers are too interested in looking at the overall flowers and foliage colours and only give the actual flowers a passing glance without actually looking closely into them and taking in their real beauty.

Shirley - I don't expect I'll stick to my plan of action, as it's always fallen by the wayside in the past as like you, I see something that needs doing and before I know it, I'm off on a different track and well away from the original plan. I guess it doesn't really matter, as these other jobs need doing too; but it would be good if I could stick to a plan just the same.

I have high hopes for that seedling in Pic.5, but as I said, it's very early days yet and it still could amount to "zilch". On the other hand, I was delighted with the colouring of the ('Charm' x 'Cracker Jack') x 'Lambert's Pride', but terribly disappointed with the shape and the long gangly leaves. I put this down the overcrowded area in which it was growing and I'm sure I can produce something much better from a pup when it's grown properly in a pot with a bit of bench space in which to move.

I haven't seen Neo. Isabel Garnet previously so I looked it up on the BCR and saw that it was imported to Australia by Pinegrove nursery, NSW, in 1988 from the Miami WBC. There's a bit more history and some pictures in which it appears to have been grown in lower light than yours and it can all be found at:
http://registry.bsi.org/index.php?fields=&id=10630&search=Isabel Garnet

I really like the look of your Neo. 'Aztec' also, very much like my other spotted favourites, 'Gold Fever' and 'Gold Fantasy', there's just something about the colour combination of those plants that I really find attractive.

Time to go again and today's pic's are Nidulariums, another very much underated brom in my opinion. 1 is Nid. innocentii var. Striatum, 2 is Nid. 'Nat De Leon', 3 is Nid. 'Orange Bract' (previously Nid. fulgens orange) 4. Nid. Longiflorum and 5. Is Nid. 'Nana'

All the best, Nev.

Hi all,

Looks like a beautiful day ahead here. The crazy week is coming where everyone panics in getting all the work things done in time and same on the home front.

Jean, Bailey is careful it's just that he has a huge tail following him that he swats everything with.
A Labrador dog we had was the same as yours, never got out of that puppy stage.

Colleen, I will give your lawn clipping idea a go, I have got enough bloody lawn clippings here in summer to fill a nursery. I wouldn't be too fussed about the presents, some food and drink on the table and a get together is what it is all about.

Teresa, that's a nice pic of the flower. I have given up on the driveway weeds, I just snip them with the snipper now.

Shirley, your Neo. Aztec looks good, the one I have looks nothing like that.

Nev, how long after you get the pins removed until you can start back in the garden?
I laughed at you trying to drink the coffee while the kids stared at you.

Hi Trish, hope you get to relax in the coming weeks.

Anyhow, a couple of pics.
1...Some sort of Neo. first bromeliad bought, must of had 20 odd pups from it.
2...Rosy Morn is growing huge.
3...Running out of room, going to start putting plants up the back.
4...Is there any reason to not tie the plants like this?
5...Neo. Aztec

Brian

Brian - I like your Neo Aztec but you are right - it looks nothing like Shirley's.

I think of the two I like Shirley's just that bit more - my obsession with all things spotty pushes me in that direction.
Mind you the recurving leaves would drive me batty thinking the plant was wilting.

There were several like your one posted some time ago - I remember commenting that they looked like those paintings done by holding a paintbrish on paper as it spins around on a potters wheel

take care all - Teresa

Hello everyone.
I am sitting here having a rest & a cuppa after finishing up some more repotting .
Its very warm outside now and is tipped to be even warmer tomorrow, but cooler for Christmas.

Nev I love the spotty broms too but then I also love the purple & stripeys...&&&&& etc etc..lol
I moved all my broms around yesterday, as I was putting the larger pots with the brugmansias towards the back. They were overshadowing the broms too much.
Its all a game of musical chairs with plants as they grow.
I finally took new pics of the two flower stems on vrs Angela and Grafton Sunset. I will get them off the memory card tomorrow.
I like the nidulariums . I had a few but they went in the sale.
I dont think they would have liked being out off the shadehouse in the very cold winters we get here at the new place.

Brian, I looked at your pic of the tied brom.
I am sure the more expert growers would have suggestions on the tying, but I see a problem with pups trying to form if the mother is tied like that.
I have some broms that put pups out from inside those bottom leaves before they brown off and die ( the leaves not the pups)
For holding broms steady when planted, I use what a lot on here do. Chopsticks or skewers.
They are great because you can use as many as needed then remove them easily later.

Shirley nice to see you putting up even more pics of the pampered broms at the brom resort...lol
I do like the neo Purple Tears.

Teresa, I hope you have a nice Christmas present for Miss Mischief...lol
Maybe something to chew or has she abandoned that habit now ?
Hope the boss appreciates all the work you did getting things packed.

From where I am sitting I can look out the screen door and the large window , so see all that goes on around here and I see a friend has just arrived in her car, coming to visit.
I will try to remember to get the new pics off the camera tomorrow.
Take care and stay safe.

Jean.

Hi Everyone!

Hope you are all very well and sure everyone is very busy indeed given the festive season. We finished work finally on Friday for two weeks, it was a real push to get there with many extra hours worked to reach tight deadlines etc. but I got there in the end which was great with a surprise bonus to thank me for all my hard work which was nice and I was very taken aback by the gesture which was so not expected and such a pleasant surprise.

Mum’s back on the mend so that has been a blessing as I have been worried sick about her and it’s always harder when we live so far away. I ring her every couple of days to see how she is going and she looks to have many plans for Xmas and the NY which is nice and we are making plans to catch-up next year sometime for a couple of weeks hopefully once her doctor gives her the ok to fly otherwise I will come to her.

We ran around madly last weekend and this weekend getting the inside of our house Xmas decorated, getting the shopping done and going to a few Xmas parties and it’s nice now to have a couple of days home and in the garden to muck around with my broms and clean-up some of the garden beds that have been neglected before Xmas.

Today I racked up all the Mango / Avocado leaves that had accumulated these past couple of weeks (that I normal rack weekly) and then decided to tackle the front and side garden beds in prep for creating a sun hardy type garden with broms and agaves etc. I had cleaned up the garden some time ago but let it go and become overgrown again with weeds due to lack of time and organisation but hopefully this time around I will get it finished as it has been a real eye sore and a thorn in my side at the moment he he.

Last Wednesday (morning – just before going to work), Thursday and Friday (night) was spent with me wrestling a 7 ½ foot Scrub Python out of our yard (for about 10 minutes) that had decided to set up house after consuming possibly a possum or something that evening? I took some pics after I relocated it back to the wetlands so will attach some pics tomorrow. It made a point of hanging out near the girl’s doggie door during the evenings which was of a concern so I made a point of getting it out of the yard that same evening as at least I knew where it was rather than waking up and wondering where it was. Anyway it has not been back since which is good because each day that passed it was getting stronger and harder to wrestle as it had nearly digested its food by then and was less sluggish then at the beginning. But I still don’t let the girls out in the evenings without checking first just in case and they are very cautious when out there which is good to see.

I also have to attach some pics for Nev of the Water Tractor that I have been meaning to do for some time now.

Unfortunately I have not yet read everyone’s posts or looked at all the beautiful pics I have missed these past couple of weeks but plan to do so while I am on holidays. Then there are the many personal emails I have not read yet but I will get there over the next couple of weeks for sure.

I have missed you all my beautiful brom buddies and look forward to chatting with you all on a more regular basis now that things have settled down a great deal.

Time to sneak in a quick cup of tea before going to bed; Joe and the girls (our dogs Lucy / Lexi) are already sound asleep.

Possibly going to the beach in the morning and catching-up with a friend for a chat and coffee which we always enjoy.

I can hear the bats knocking our precious Mangos out of our tree at the moment, they make such a mess and I have to clean-up after them every morning to dispose of any half eaten fruit and broken branches that litter the garden, at the rate they are going there will be no fruit left soon so we have been cutting a freezing as much fruit as we can as well as giving some away to friends etc. I enjoyed some lovely mango ice-cream our friends made and brought into us today, it's the nicest mango ice-cream I have every had and was not gluggy like some ice-creams can be.

Take Care & Happy Gardening!

Trish

Trish - nice to see you back :)
Scary to have a large python hanging around the dog door...
people we knew in Murwillimbah stopped having pet cats after losing them to carpet snakes.
They lived in an old house on a banana plantation so no realistic way to prevent the snakes from finding a way in.

Nice to get a bonus for all your hard work, not sure why more companies don't realise that positive motivation works on people as well as for training animals :)

The three of us working in the shop received a lovely gift basket from the Retail Manager in Levin.
Hazel has been trying to drag the shops into profitability after total mismanagement by her predecessors saw us struggling.
She implemented a bonus system to pay out if the shops made 5% over monthly budget.
As we had done that total by a long way over the girls were looking forward to the extra for Xmas but when I asked the pay office if they would still get it with the shop having been closed early I got a very evasive answer.

Then Hazel rang to tell us thanks for all the hard work - and to say that she is no longer employed either.
So I don't know if the two part timers will get the bonus they earned.
I never expected to get it as I only worked there 2 weeks of the month.

It was a lovely day here yesterday & I was busy in the garden, mowed all the lawns & dead headed roses & sweet peas.
Glad I did because late in the afternoon a southerly change came up & we had nice steady rain all night.
That will keep the grass green :)

cheers - Teresa

Merry Christmas everyone. Hope you all have a wonderful time with all the family and friends. Have a safe and wonderful time. Colleen

Hi everyone – You beaut! Today’s the day I get the pins out of my finger and to top it off, it’s a beautiful sunny day. Here’s hoping I’ll be re-potting brom’s again tomorrow.

Brian – Speaking of dogs, my daughter has a super friendly female American Staffie and she’s constantly wagging her tail; when wearing shorts it pays to stay well clear as when her tail whips your legs it really stings.

I have to agree with you about Christmas time; I’m sure most of us go well and truly overboard with the meal. I went to a Christmas lunch at a friend’s yesterday and there was literally wall to wall food and elaborate decorations on the table, all very nice but somehow it seemed a bit unnatural. I personally think it would have been better with less food and more in keeping with the way we normally live and can afford.

The Neo in your Pic.5 looks familiar to me but just for the moment I can’t put a name to it, but it definitely looks nothing like the Neo.’Aztec’ that I know as that is a spotted plant similar to Neo.’Gold Fever’.

Brian I imagine I can start back into the gardening as soon as I get the pins out as long as the pin sites are adequately dressed and I wear gloves. The main reasons up until now why I couldn’t wear gloves were firstly due to the splint and now due to the bits of wire still protruding from my finger. If the surgeon says I have to wait any longer before I start gardening again, I think I’ll go nuts!

Your Pic.1 shows determination to get the most from your mother plants. Neo.’Rosy Morn’ is a nice big plant and will grow even bigger when planted directly into the garden; I had one that was almost three feet across. I think the reason they grow larger in the garden is that their roots are free to roam and seek out whatever nutrients they require, unlike when the are confined to a pot and rely on just what we give them.

The areas between the shrubs in picture three I think would be an ideal place to put a few brom’s, but leave them in their pots initially in case you need to move them around.

There’s no reason why you can’t stake plants like you have done in Pic.4, it doesn’t matter how you do it as long the plant is held firmly and prevented from moving and the actual stake isn’t going to impede the growth of any new pup. However the same applies to skewers and even rocks which some people use for support, and as long as you keep an eye on your plants and move these obstacles when necessary, everything should be OK.. I just use three wooden skewers pushed into the mix in close to the plant and spread equally around the plant, and they seem to work OK as well. Your method is much tidier though and doesn’t show the skewers sticking up to spoil the look of the plant which they do while they are in place.

Jean – Your mention of the flower spikes on you Vr. Angela and Vr. Grafton Sunset just reminded me of the one which is on my Vr. ‘Kiwi Sunset’, I had originally planned to remove the spike to induce more pups but with one thing and another during the last month, I forgot all about it and yesterday I saw that it’s hit the top of the shade cloth and is now bending; so as soon as I get the “all clear” to get back into the gardening, “off she comes” as I don’t intend doing any hybridising with it and the flowers are pretty ordinary anyway.

I find the Nidulariums very handy for places which don’t have enough light for other brom’s as they will still grow and flower in these shady areas although they will still grow in areas which are well lit as well, but never in full sun as they will be cooked.

It’s good to see you fitting into your new environment so well and making so many new friends, perhaps if there’s any gardeners among them you could introduce them to our brom site, I’m sure the rest of us would like to meet them also.

Trish - It's good to see you have all the 2014 work behind you now and can put your feet up for a while. It's also good to hear your Mum's on the improve and will soon be back into the garden once again, but please emphasise to her to start off gradually and don't overdo things.

Trish, have you tried putting some of that white bird netting over the Mango Tree to keep off the Flying Foxes? It’s available at Bunnings for under $5 and being white the little birds see it and avoid it.

Please say that Joe got some pictures or a short video of you wrestling with the Scrub Python, gee I’d love to see them. Two days ago a friend of mine was just preparing to weed the border around one of her gardens and she found a python asleep among the weeds. She didn’t wrestle it though she just moved on and weeded another area instead. (See Pic’s 1 and 2)

Teresa – Speaking of bonuses, it seems the bigger the company, the less chance of a Christmas Bonus. When I worked for a small builder, (just two carpenters, (him and me), one apprentice and one labourer), each Christmas he took us down the pub for a counter lunch and a few beers and gave us each an envelope and Christmas card with $50 in it and that was right back in about the late 60’s. As well as being handy for us at that time of the year ($50 was a fair bit then) it also bought him dedication; and all three of us would always try that little bit more to get a job finished on time for him. When I went to the steelworks who at that time employed about 23.000 people, guess how much Christmas Bonus the average worker got then? That’s right “Zilch”; so is it any wonder that people working there never did any more than the absolute bare minimum of work. It's very true that what goes around comes around.

Colleen – Thanks for the Christmas wishes and let me wish the same to you and the boys as well. I hope Santa fills your Christmas stockings with lots of nice brom’s.

Pic’s1 and 2 My friends surprise when she went to weed her garden borders, Pic.3 Neo. concentrica (compact form), Pic. 4 Neo. concentrica x carolina variegata and Pic.5 is Neo.’Enchantment’

All the best, Nev.

lol - the most dangerous animal I find in my garden is our cat...

3 nice Neo's there but I do like the one in pic 4.

Went out & with hubby to get our Xmas shopping done - avoided the mall & had a very straight forward hour of finding what we needed & no queue at the checkout.
We only have a few bits & pieces to buy now, need to figure out what to buy my beloved.
Normally I have his gift sorted weeks ahead.

Hi Everyone!

Well the day started off a tad bit different not long after I opened the back house door for the dogs to go do there business before heading to the beach; anyway we did not get far at all as we were interrupted by the girls barking their heads off quite stressed and growling as well; so here’s me bolting out into the back yard bare footed, half dressed in my PJ’s and sports bra yelling / screaming like a mad women for our girls to get back inside after finding them trying to wrestle a scrub python out of one of our hedges and upon getting closer to it realising it’s the same bloody python that has been hassling us this past week. Anyway shortly after hearing all my yelling Joe joins me also half dressed in the back yard as we try to get the girls inside and safe; Lucy our little Jack Russell is happy to keep her distance and goes inside but our Dashy Lexi was adamant to get it out of the hedges and drags it out with a bit of grunt, down the side garden ramp and onto the back lawn where we grab her and put her inside and check her for any damage but she’s fine thank goodness. Then it’s back outside and armed with a rake and garbage bin I wrestle yet again for the 4th day the same python that I manage to get into our garbage bin and later relocate it into a smaller esky to take to the vets for a check-up. It did sustain a couple of small bite marks in it’s under body but the vet did not seem concerned. We did try calling about 8 snake catchers but no one was answering there phones given the time of year. Anyway at least it will get relocated to a better place and live to see another day as we were told it was only two years old so still lots of growing to do.

Nev ha ha unfortunately Joe did not get any video footage of me wrestling the python these past 4 x days but he said he wishes he had as he reckons I have my technique down pat and got a bit of a laugh out of watching me wrestling with it and some of the little controlled screams I made when the snake moved in my direction followed by my chuckling at myself at how silly I sounded. My best aid in assisting me lifting the python is (not Joe) but instead my fanned plastic rake that I have had for years from Bunnings; I grab the python by the tail and then run the rake under its body and slide it up as far as I can to balance the pythons weight and then I just relocate it to where I want. I tried using my big garden broom the other day but it gave me grief as the broom head kept spinning with the weight of the python and it kept falling off and was naturally getting annoyed as well as me but the rake worked really well and became my best friend these past days LOL.

The rest of the day was spent doing house chores and I started cleaning up the front garden bed and got a few brom’s in which makes such a nice difference. I did not get around to taking pics as we ended up having unexpected visitors late arvo and then it was time to come inside a get dinner on. Tomorrow we will attempt to get to the beach as we missed it today.

Nev thanks Mum assures me she is trying to take things easy and is even kicking back and watching the cricket when she is not in the garden playing with her broms.

That’s a nice pic of your friend’s python, funny how she just moved on after discovering it resting there and just went and weeded another part of the garden ha ha.

Thanks Teresa happy to be back as I so missed you guys.

Yes carpet snakes eat anything and are persistent it eating what they want which is a bit of a worry when there are pets involved.

That’s lovely the Gift Basket you received from your Retail Manager but sorry to hear that your friend Hazel lost her job.

Great to hear you got so much accomplished in the garden, that’s always a fantastic feeling knowing how much you got done and enjoying every moment.

Colleen many thanks and also wishing you and your family a Very Merry Xmas and Happy NY and keep safe and well if we don’t hear from you before Xmas.

Nev fantastic to hear your pins are finally coming out, by now you have probably already started potting broms knowing you are loving every minute of it – enjoy you deserve every minute of it.

Have not had a chance to put my feet up yet but loving every minute of the time I get to spend with Joe, the Girls and my Broms at the moment and the evenings are when I try to kick back and relax a bit except I seem to stay up way too late because I’m that buzzed having time off.

Nice Neo’ pics Nev, ‘Enchantment’ is such an impressive plant to grow in the garden, which reminds me I have to check how the pups I took off are doing as they are the first I have taken off my mother plant and although the pups were of a nice size the root system was not that big so I hope they are doing ok?

Anyway must head off as nearly midnight and want to make it to the beach in the morning before it gets too hot.

Take Care & Happy Gardening!

Trish

PS - I will attach pics tomorrow hopefully of the Python, Water Tractor and Garden Bed I am currently working on.

Hi everyone – Well I’m freed from my bonds at last; the pins have been removed and the good news is that when I asked the surgeon how soon I could get back into the garden, he answered, “how long will it take you to get home?”. I just have to keep the pin sites covered with a bandaid if they are still bleeding a bit, and wear gloves. The bleeding had stopped before we got home from the surgeon yesterday and wasn’t it great to be able to have a shower without those pins getting in the way. You beaut!......free at last.

Looks like being a wet Christmas here this year instead of the usual stinking hot day we normally get, so a welcome change for all. It rained all night last night, not heavy, but just continuous light rain, the sort I like as it has a chance to gradually soak into everything. It’s still raining now and the sky is very overcast which make me suspect it will be like this for a good part of the day. I won’t interfere with my plans though as everything’s set up in the garage and ready for me to start potting.

Teresa – Gee you’re keen leaving your Christmas shopping this late; it’s just as well you don’t live here as you’d get trampled to death in the rush. “Stocklands” which is our local major shopping centre has this year doubled in size and it’s massive; people who have been there in the last couple of days say it’s bedlam and you can barely move, there’s just so many people. To make matters worse, yesterday the two main escalators between floors broke down due to just too many people I expect, and this created a backlog and long queues of people wanting to get from one floor to the next, glad I wasn’t there.

Yesterday's Pic. No.4, Neo ‘Enchantment’, seems to be a favourite of everyone who sees it, it’s so popular that I can sell every spare one I have without even trying as there’s always someone asking after it. There are two forms, the one in the picture as well as an albo-marginated form (See Pic.1). They are both nice plants of similar size and equally as popular with growers.

Trish – I must say I am a bit disappointed that Joe wasn’t able to get any pic’s of you wrestling the python but as I imagine what it would have looked like I can understand he was probably laughing so hard he wouldn’t have been able to hold the camera steady anyway. Just remember though, if the python comes home again, we all want some pictures of “The Lady Python Wrestler” in action.

I’m looking forward to seeing the pic’s of your water tractor, as the more I think about it the more I like the idea because if I could just do the general garden with that it would save more time for me to concentrate on watering individual brom’s.

That’s about it for today as I can’t wait to get out in the garage and start potting. Pic.1 is Neo. ‘Enchantment’ albo-marginata, Pic.2 is Neo.’Black Forest’, Pic.3 is Neo.’Break of Day’, Pic.4 is Neo.’Satsuma’ and Pic.5 is Neo.’Ashanti’.

All the best, Nev.

Nev - I get the impression you are pleased to have those pins out ;)
Lovely group of Neos, especially that Neo Black Forest.
Neo Satsuma is a great colour,but I prefer the leaf shape of the other 4.

I managed to get hubby a gift this morning & picked up some salad leaves & par baked dinner rolls.

It wasn't too busy but hubby stopped in later on his way home from work & said it was very busy.
Have to pick up more wrapping paper tomorrow, I misjudged how much we had left.

Hi everyone - Well I'm finally back to re-potting and had a lovely day yesterday as I started into the long journey trying to catch up with the back-log of re-potting.

I have to go to physio today for some new exercises to do over the Christmas break. On my last visit they told me that once the pins are out it's important to get onto these exercises which basically is just squeezing some exercise putty while holding your hand under water. There may be more to it than that, but that's what I was told last time so I'll just have to wait until 1.00am to find out.

I was even able to get my old wok out last night and cook tea (around here we oldies still say tea instead of dinner) I wasn't able to use the wok until now as I needed my left hand to hold it with whilst tossing the food in it. We had Sweet and Sour Chicken last night, (the proper Chinese style) not that sweet sickly muck you buy in a jar at the supermarket.

Teresa - It seems like you and me the only ones out of bed this morning. I thought you'd like that picture of Neo.'Black Forest' with its dark colour and subtle spotting.

Also the Neo.'Satsuma' which although it doesn't have nice wide leaves, it does have brilliant colour which the camera can't accurately seem to reproduce. In fact, in certain light it seems to "glow", and like all of these medium/small plants with narrow leaves and stolon born pups, it looks a picture when grown in a basket.

Today I'm going to post pictures of some nice Allan Freeman Neo. hybrids just for a change. I don't know if you know this or not, but Allan Freeman was a prolific Queensland hybridiser who turned out many beautiful Neo hybrids with 957 registered on the BCR.

I've always been a fan of Allan Freeman hybrids, and they mainly appeal to me because of their nice wide leaves and variations of often multiple colours; unfortunately there's not many of them find their way to our area and I just have to be content with the occasional one I'm able to swap with growers from the north.

A friend of mine was also a big fan of these Allan Freeman hybrids and before he died he would often send me pic's . Below are some of those pic's, and although they aren't my plants, I very much wish they were.

Although Dave's Garden shows them as copyrighted to me, I never took them and they were probably taken by Keith Golinski who took so many pictures of Allan's hybrids to use when he registered them on Allan's behalf.

Pic.1 is Neo.'Gotcha', Pic.2 is Neo.'Kybosh', Pic.3 is Neo.'Ladybird', Pic.4 is Neo.'Labyrinth' and Pic. 5 is Neo.'Maestro'.

All the best, Nev.

This message was edited Dec 23, 2014 1:31 PM

Nev - do you make your sweet & sour from scratch?
I used to years ago - very different to the bought stuff & much tastier.
Sweet & sour pork in Chinese takeaways here the sauce is a pink gloop & the meat is more batter than anything else.

I do like the Neo Kybosh, very striking colouration.
Neo Labyrinth reminds me of Gold Fever with that base colour & golden spots.

Good morning everyone

To all my dear friends and fellow brom addicts ...

Best wishes for a very Merry Christmas

Hoping you have a wonderful day and Santa brings you lots of goodies

Take care, stay safe

Shirley

Hi everyone - Well it's over for another year and we can once more settle back into our normal routines again, unless of course you're brave enough to attend some of the Boxing Day Sales in the city with the other millions of people.

We had a busy day yesterday, firstly out to our daughter and son-in-laws place to see our youngest grandson open his presents from Santa, and then breakfast.

Christmas lunch at my daughter and son-in law's with her father-in-law and sister and brother in law and associated kids, and then finished off with dinner last night at our place for all our immediate local family where we watched the three grandsons opening their presents from Nanny and Poppy and then a phone call via Skype to our other son and his family in Bali.

Today, I'm going to relax and get back into the re-potting routine.

Teresa - Yes I make the sweet and sour from scratch from a recipe my friend Stephen Tang gave me when he had the local Chinese Restaurant. I understand exactly what you're saying about some of the sickly, cloying stuff some of the restaurants call sweet and sour sauce; it's bloody awful!

Before he left, Stephen gave me a recipe for his two most popular sauces; Sweet and Sour and his popular Lemon Sauce, and I've been making them ever since with a few minor additions of my own.

Neo. 'Kybosh' along with many of the others from Allan Freeman's 957 registered hybrids had unusual colour combinations; Neo. 'Lone Pine' is another of my favourites which can be seen at: http://registry.bsi.org/?genus=NEOREGELIA&id=5481#5481

Another which comes to mind is Neo. 'Bedazzled'
See: http://registry.bsi.org/?genus=NEOREGELIA&id=3091#3091

Shirley - Nice of you to drop in with your Christmas wishes and I hope we continue to hear more from you and see lots more pictures of your wonderful plants.

I know everyone's very busy at this time of the year and a lot don't have time to post messages but to all our regulars, please have a nice time during the festivities and be careful on the roads as unfortunately there's still a lot of idiots driving around. Even after all the holiday period safety campaigns, the police are still booking many drivers who continue to drink and drive and not wear seat belts......When will some people learn? But then my old boss always reckoned that no matter how hard you try, you can't legislate against stupidity.

Just to brighten our day even more, here's a few pictures of some nice brom's taken by my Thai friend at a bromeliad show in Thailand. Pic.1 is Neo.'carolinae x concentrica with almost perfect round shape and great leaf stacking (check out the spiral formation), Pic.2 is Neo.'Granada', Pic.3 is Neo.'Kahala Dawn', Pic.4 is Neo.'Inkwell' albo-marginata and Pic.5 is Neo.'Lambert's Pride' x carcharodon.

All the best, Nev.

Nev - that Neo Bedazzled is very unusual, the leaf tips look marbled.
Neo. Lone Pine is attractive too.

that leaf stacking effect is very striking especially on an albo marginated plant.

We are off to take Sugar to the dog park - she is well over due for a run & is driving us crazy being a baggage trying to get at food up on the table & into bags of Xmas gifts...
basically she has cabin fever.

Hi everyone - I had an enjoyable, relaxing time yesterday potting up the first of an enormous backlog of Neo. pups. I've barely made a dent in them yet, but it is satisfying to know I've at last been able to make a start.

Teresa - Neo Bedazzled is just one of many unusual coloured brom's bred by Allan Freeman. Sometime when you're looking for something interesting to do, go to the BCR and from the Search Engine, select "Advanced Search".

When the new screen comes up, select Neoregelia as the genus (in the first box) and type Freeman in the third box down (Breeder)

Now go right to the bottom of the page and select 1500 where it says Max. results.

Press the search button and all of Alan Freeman's registered Neoregelias will appear on a list on the left of the page, all 957 of them.

The only issue I have with a lot of the pic's is that they were hosed down before the pic's were taken. This does embellish the colouring of the plant, and true it does look nice, but at the same time, it doesn't convey an indication of its true colour.

The leaf stacking seems to be the normal thing in Thailand, and a lot of the South East Asian countries and to a lesser extent, Hawaii as well. The plants look fantastic but the growers complain that it takes longer for the plant to reach maturity and therefore produce pups; we on the other hand get plenty of pups but minimal leaf stacking except for the far northern tropical areas.

I hope Sugar enjoyed her run at the Dog Park, and she'll have to write a letter to Santa and tell him to leave her more "goodies" to eat in her Santa Bag next year.

I'll finish today with a few pictures I took the other day; Pic.1 is one of my crosses from Neo. ‘Burgundy’ x ‘Gold Fever’, Pic.2 is Neo. ‘Razzberry Ripple’ (Not to be confused with the other Neo spelled (‘ Raspberry Ripple’) Pic.3 is Neo.’Royal Cordovan’, and Pic’s 4 and 5 are two of my crosses from Neo.’Painted Lady’ (Sport) x Neo.’Ferny Grove’.

All the best, Nev.