BROMELIADS GOING INTO WINTER 2015

Hi Everyone!

Hi Nev sounds like it’s getting cold down your neck of the woods. I noticed when driving to work this morning lots of due on the grass and not by sprinklers and there was a lot of fog clouds hugging the mountains which was lovely. The weather man is saying towards the end of the week the weather is going to get a lot cooler so we should feel it in the mornings given how early we are up in the mornings for work; and expected rain on the weekend.

Glad to hear the builder came back and is almost finished, sure you will be pleased once the works all finished and then you will be thinking of the next jobs you want to get done.

Pleased to have been of help with the Roundup and can’t wait to see your garden project finished.

We will keep trying with the Python Video’s again on the weekend as see if we can come up with something hopefully to reduce the mega bites?

Pleased to hear you liked my Vriesea pictures I posted yesterday, I will get names of them all over the weekend if I remember.

That’s interesting information links you provided on Meyendorffii and I hopped on and checked out the painting on the BCR and read the whole story in word doc; like you say if the experts don’t know how are we to know if we have a true Neo. ‘Meyendorffii’? I will have to see what plants I have in my collection called ‘Meyendorffii’ but at the most I probably only have a couple that jump to mind which is Neo. ‘Meyendorffii Minor’ and ‘Meyendorffii Orange’. That’s a blow out looking at all the brom pics you posted all carrying the name of ‘Meyendorffii’, each and everyone is so different to the other, very confusing indeed but all beautiful plants never the less and I could not pic a favourite because I liked them all.

Hi Teresa pleased to hear you had a lovely time for your Nephews Birthday and a nice day off. I am really looking forward to having Monday off and will use it as a day to rest and recoup after the hectic week we are both having.

Hope your slow cooker swiss steak slow cook dinner turned out great; it was making my mouth water just listening to what goes in it, real comfort food for sure.

Yes I most definitely got a good laugh at ‘Sugar’ Streaking; our two girls like to wear there doggy coats during winter, especially Lexi the Dash hound that only has a thin coat, they look very cute in their jackets and often get people coming over to put them because they can’t resist on how cute they look and they luv getting all the attention.

Take Care & Happy Gardening!

Trish

Pic 1 - Girls in there coats "not streaking like Sugar" ha ha
Pic 2 - Neo. 'Sam Smith'
Pic 3 - Spot the "Sedge Frog" in our garden, they are the smallest frogs living in our garden
Pic 4 - Black Cockatoo "Gang Gang" - sign of rain coming
Pic 5 - Neo. 'Imperfecta'

Hi everyone – I don’t know what the temperature is here his morning, but my bones are telling me it’s very cold. It was the same yesterday and didn’t start to warm up until around lunch time and then at 2.00pm it started to get cold again, so not my favourite weather.

The builder kept his word and finished the job as he said he would and even gave both awnings a fresh coat of white enamel (which wasn’t in the agreement) and which he said was a “freebie” to make up for the holdups, so I’m very pleased with the outcome.

Teresa – The “Swiss Steak” sound interesting, what exactly is it?

Yes the museum garden is starting to look good again now and let’s hope it stays that way. Last time Barry got it looking nice, vandals came in and ripped out most of the plants and it almost broke his heart to think anyone could get any pleasure out of doing such a thing.

I once put a coat on my little “Clyde” one very cold winter we had here and he just sat down and wouldn’t move and had that look on his face like he was in trouble for something. As soon as our back was turned, he tore it to bits to get it off and gave me a look that said “only little girls wear coats”. It was so funny we still have a laugh about it sometimes.

Trish – Yes that story about Neo Meyendorffii is a real tangled web, but that’s not the only one a there are several others and two of the most commonly known plants that come to mind are Neo carolinae and Neo fireball. Fireball is a “lulu” because even after all these years and it being a parent of many hybrids, the experts still can’t decide whether it’s a hybrid or a species. See: http://registry.bsi.org/?genus=NEOREGELIA&id=4351#4351

That’s quite an interesting mixed lot of pic’s you’ve posted this morning. I’m particularly interested in the cockatoo which is Red-Tailed Black Cockatoo .
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-tailed_black_cockatoo

The name Black Cockatoo "Gang Gang" is confusing as they are two distinctly different species with the Gang Gang Cockatoo being a dark grey in colour with a beautiful red crest. It would be great if it’s a proper Gang Gang as they are becoming pretty scarce and are now listed as vulnerable in New South Wales. This is partly due to habitat destruction and because of poachers trap and export them for huge amounts of money. I have seen Gang Gangs down the coast around the Shoalhaven area in small flocks when I was a lad but now you only see the occasional pair. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gang-gang_cockatoo

In our area we have the Yellow-Tailed Black Cockatoo which fly around in small flocks of six to eight and they mainly eat the seeds of the Casuarinas and Silky Oaks. In fact they are so quiet, you only know they are there when you hear the seed shells falling to the ground.
See: http://birdlife.org.au/bird-profile/Yellow-tailed-Black-Cockatoo

Sorry to be off topic again, but watching wildlife, especially birds is one of my pet hobbies, even the strange looking bird you have that the little sedge frog has taken a liking to.

Time to go again and today’ pic’s are 1 Neo. ‘Heart Music’ x concentrica, 2 Neo. Laurie Mueller Hybrid (This was the only name that came with the plant), 3 Edmundoa lindenii, Pic.4 Neo. ‘Syncopate’ and an oldie to finish with (Although nothing like the pic on the BCR) Neo. ‘Red on Green’.

All the best, Nev.

Nev - Swiss steak is just braised steak in gravy... tomato or mushroom seem to be the usual ones.
The recipe I did turned out delicious but I couldn't help thinking it was very like beef stroganoff except the steaks were whole instead of cut up.
In fact I quite like the idea of doing the same recipe but using diced beef, blade steak is always good.

Baz & I bought a bottle of sherry for the recipe, and have discovered we quite like a sherry before dinner :)

I can't understand the mentality of those who vandalise other people's property...
glad the museum gardens are recovering & I can fully understand how heartbreaking it must have been to find plants ripped out.
Did they take plants or just pull them up & leave them to die?

Trish - I served the Swiss steak on smashed potatoes. I saw Jamie Oliver do spuds that way & have copied a few times - basically I cook them in the microwave till just tender then put them on the plate & crush them a bit with a fork. Jamie Oliver did an amazing fresh herb & seasoning thing with his but I figured the gravy would be flavoursome enough.
I prefer smashed potato to mashed as I can leave the skin on - and it's less work :)

The girls look warm & cosy in their coats - I put Sugar out for her wee break early this morning & she came back drenched... then she went all silly & frisky when I tried to dry her off a bit so we could go back to bed.
It was a howling wind & pouring rain & my class wasn't til 10am so I decided getting up at 7am was pointless.
Sugar finally settled & was snoring quietly when time to get up came... it did cross my mind to cancel out of my class but I rugged up warm & dug my Drizabone coat out of the spare wardrobe.
I have just finished the compulsory units of the course and only have the two elective units to complete - I am getting on with Word, Intermediate. Must say it is great learning all these things but my poor brain is spinning after two hours of it.

cheers - Teresa

Hello everyone.
Its raining again down here. Nothing heavy but continuous, which makes things awkward when going form shop to shop where there are no verandas.
At least the cold wind has let up a bit so its not so bad to be out.
I am off to my hospital group today and if the weather does fine up a bit we may go over to one of the small towns not far away to have a wander around their jumble sale.

Trish, beautiful pics of your broms. I still drool at the sight of them all, but am getting used to saying no more to myself...lol.
I agree with Nev, your "gang gang" is definitely not one.
Its is a red tailed black cockatoo.
There were lots of them over in WA when I lived there. They are quite large birds and seem to live more in the drier northern places. I know they are disappearing from a lot of the eastern states habitats
We do get the few pairs of the white tailed ones, as Nev mentioned. They are usually seen along the coastal and near inland areas.
We do get the odd few Gang Gangs around here too. They also like the inland drier areas.
I used to see a lot up around the mountains and more inland.
As Nev said they are a beautiful grey with a dark pinkish red head, although the females dont have the brilliant color of the males. They are a very quiet bird and like the other beautiful cockatoo, the Major Mitchell, will sit quietly in the trees and you would never know they were there.
Its a shame that people have pushed some of our most beautiful birds out of their habitats and into obscurity.
One of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen of birds was when we were out hunting rabbits and came upon Major Mitchell cockatoos sitting around in a group of small trees. There would have been about 300 or more.
I have never seen so many of them in one place as they are mainly in very small groups.
We just stood and watched them for ages. It was wonderful.

In WA the retailed black cockatoos all come down on the ground to eat the prickly seeds of a creeping pest we called double gee.
The old timers said it was just before rain you would see them.
Like you Nev, I love watching birds.
Robert & I would sit and watch all the different ones that came to the garden at the old house.
I get a few birds here , but the most prolific and noisiest have to be the pesky white cockatoos. We get them in huge flocks and the do an enormous amount of damage to the trees . There are both the white corellas and the slightly larger sulphur crested whites.
Both are in no danger of extinction. I have seen them in their thousands in trees along inland rivers when I traveled around Australia.

Anyway, back to the garden.

My broms are showing no sign of any frost damage so I am pleased that they look like surviving here.
Nothing seems to be damaged at all so far, even though the temps have been around 4C on a few days.

Brian, I hope you are having good weather to get on with your shadehouse.
Are you going to use the beige shadecloth ?
We were talking last year about the merits of the various colors.
I did have a lot of the green on mine as it was the only one I could get at the time, but I did use beige on the last 2 we built.
I like the beige as it lets in more light, although I was told it has the same UV protection as the green.
My broms liked it better , mainly for the extra light I would assume.
I did cover any areas which had sun all day, with a piece of green in the summer.

Teresa, your cooking sounds very tasty.
I dont cook a lot of the more fancy things now I am on my own.
My Robert used to laugh as he said he never knew what experiment in cooking I was going to try on him next.
We both liked Asian food as its simple to make and full of taste.

Now I had better get myself going or I'll be late.

No new pics but a couple of oldie group pics.

Keep warm and safe.
Jean.

I've been having fun with Word in class - learning how to do fancy bullet points & indent them & all sorts.
Also getting the hang of some nifty shortcut keys.
Onto adding tables next.

Reminiscing about cockatoos, years ago I did a trip from Brisbane to Perth via Innamincka, Birdsville & Ayers Rock.
At the camp grounds up from the river at Innamincka we had budgies nesting in the trees, that was far nicer than the Jumping Bull Ants nesting under our tents - never pitch a tent in the dark in the outback.

Part way to Birdsville I noticed a tree that appeared covered in massive white flower, looked a bit like a magnolia. When we got close enough the 'flowers' all took flight, it was a flock of Sulphur Crested Cockatoos.
Several campsites we stayed in were host to flocks of Corellas - I'd never seen or heard of them even after 5 years in Aussie so it was nice to further my education :)

When we first moved to Aussie we lived in Katoomba for a few months - I was astonished to see Black Cockatoos - pretty sure they had red tails but I'm trying to think back to 1980.
My step father referred to them as Major Mitchells... glad I was wary of repeating his words of 'wisdom' as he was often completely wrong - but we soon learned to nod & smile then go find out the truth & never let on when we knew better.

take care all - Teresa

Hi everyone – It’s still uncomfortably cold here again, so I’m giving outside work a miss until it warms up again. We have our monthly meeting again tomorrow and this month’s topic is (very appropriately) preparing your plants for winter, so any useful hints that come from the meeting I’ll pass on to you.

Teresa – Your recipe sounds very much like a beef casserole I make except I cut the beef into chunks instead of leaving it whole. I find chuck steak or shin beef goes well because with slow cooking it holds together well and finishes up so tender it almost melts in your mouth…..now I’m feeling hungry!

When it’s cold, Sherry isn’t a bad nightcap either.

It sounds like you’re making good headway on your computer course. It amazes me when I think of what I can do just on MS Word and what I know is just a tiny bit of the whole programme. When I read what the programmes in MS Office are capable of it makes my old mind “boggle”.

Jean – No rain here yet; I think it’s too cold, but I would like to see a good downpour if nothing else just to test out the new guttering we’ve had done.

Unfortunately I’ve never been lucky enough to see Major Mitchell Cockatoos in the wild, but I did one experience something I’ll never forget. A friend and I were driving along the road out near Temora and we came upon a paddock which looked to be full of a crop which was grey in colour, neither of us knew what this strange coloured crop was until we drove past and it suddenly changed to dark pink as a paddock full of Galahs suddenly took flight. They had been eating wheat spillage from the previous day’s harvest.

It sounds like Teresa had a similar experience with her tree full of white cockatoos.

Looks like I have to go as the man’s here to fix my wife’s computer.

All the best, Nev.

Hi everyone - Nothing new since my last post yesterday afternoon except to post a few pic's which I didn't get time to post previously.

Pic.1 Neo. 'Stairway', Pic.2 Moving and sorting. Pic.3 Neo. 'Thunderbird' x 'Painted Lady', Pic.4 Vr. Angela (grown in strong light) and Pic.5 A picture by Andrew Devonshire (one of our New Zealand members from another forum) of his magnificent bromeliad garden in N.Z.

All the best, Nev.

This message was edited Jun 5, 2015 1:16 PM

Hubby & I celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary today...

He hasn't said much leading up to the the day so I figured it would be the usual low key approach - and didn't worry about getting him a gift.
Only to find he has spent quite a lot of money on a stunning computer generated art work, a portrait of Sugar.
It is stunning & you can imagine I feel like a terrible wife for not having got him even the smallest present.

Nev - I like the colours & markings of Neo Thunderbird x Painted Lady and the NZ brom garden is magnificent...
I am guessing the owner lives in the upper North Island to have such a lovely collection outside.

take care all...
Teresa

Hi all,

Happy anniversary to you and hubby, Teresa doesn't it just fly by. You would be the only one worried about not getting a present ( maybe haha).

Nev, I like the look of the group shots you put up, is that the blokes backyard in the fifth picture? Looks great, nice use of the slope.

Jean, yes I Like the look of the beige coloured shadecloth, but I think it is going to have to wait a while as my daughter and family are going to be moving in to our house in a couple of weeks as they have sold their joint and haven't found one they like yet. There is plenty to do inside to make it comfortable for them and my son is also moving house as well.

Pic 1 + 5 ( don't know why it swaps order when previewing) is Ae. 'Rakete' has nice red colour underneath.
Pic 2 is labelled as Neo "mini" pheasant
Pic 3 is coming into flower
Pic 4 Vr. that has really got a growth spurt of late, just can't think of the name at the minute.

Have a good weekend

Brian

This message was edited Jun 8, 2015 3:44 AM

Hi everyone – We had a great brom meeting yesterday with a large roll up and some good topics for entertainment. We initially had a very informative Power Point Presentation from a member on how he grows his Tillandsias which included the different types, where they are grown, how they are mounted, how they are fertilised and how often the3y are watered. It was a great presentation from which I’m sure the member learned a lot.

Next we had a short slide show of pictures showing all of the prize winners at the recent Bromeliad Conference held in Sydney.

Finally there was a question and answer session about preparing plants for winter and the most important information to come out of that discussion was, if you are just now preparing your plants for winter well then you’ve left it too late as winter is already upon us.

The general consensus was that plant preparation is a year round thing and that if you maintain your plants well, you need do nothing more than perhaps give them a few drinks of Seasol or similar seaweed product to help build up their resistance to the cold. To sum up it was said that it basically came under two categories, plant hygiene and accommodation.

Hygiene: keeping your plants clean all the year around and paying particular attention to the removal old dead and broken leaves, especially the remnants of these around the base of the plant as this is where Scale and Mealy Bug breed, and fungus disease often starts which leads to rot.

Accommodation: Housing your plants in a location where they can take full advantage of available light and are protected from wind. Most importantly, making sure there is plenty of air circulation around each plant and they aren’t over-crowded.

Teresa – Congratulations on your 10th anniversary, we had our 52nd this year so we’re still a bit ahead of you Ha! Ha!

Don’t feel too bad about not getting him a present as it’s more about the love and respect you give each other than the presents you give. However, more importantly, what did Sugar think of the portrait?

It’s interesting with that Thunderbird x Painted Lady seedling how some of the painted lady markings are showing through and this supports Jack Koning’s theory that the pollen parent dictates the colour of the offspring in most cases.

I’m sorry but I don’t know where the owner of that wonderful garden lives in N.Z. I just know it’s a wonderful garden.

Brian – It’s good that family always know they can come back home when circumstances require it. Even though your kids grow up and leave home to make their own life somewhere else they always seem to leave a little bit of themselves behind as a link so they can come back if required.

I know even though our three have all left home and have their own homes and families, the wardrobes in their old rooms are still full of their stuff. It took me three years to re-claim my Vrieseas shade house from my eldest son who had his bonsai growing in it, but finally he decided to build his own and give mine back to me.
You are building a collection of nice looking plants and that Ae ‘Rakete’ is a very interesting plant and one that’s even good to look at when not in flower. Its rich burgundy under-leaf colour and lighter upper leaf colour with dark markings really makes it different to the usual Aechmea and certainly worth having in a collection

Neo ‘Pheasant’ is a great looking little mini and when it’s mature and coloured up fully, you’ll be patting yourself on the back because you bought it.

Your variegated plant looks nice also and these types usually winners in everyone’s eyes. It could be one of several which look very similar and I’m not going to say which one I think it is in case I get it wrong and make a fool of myself.

You plant in picture four looks like one of the many different coloured Vr ospinae var. gruberi clones.

That’s about it from me today and just for Brian, I’ll finish first with a couple of pic’s of mini Neo. Pheasant’ and three different clones of Vr. ospinae var gruberi. Unfortunately, the pictures and plants of Vr. ospinae var gruberi are not mine and belong to a friend.

All the best, Nev

Well it looks like everyone's too busy with the long weekend to post on the forum so I'll just say "g'day" and finish with a few pic's.

Pic.1 is Neo 'Braz-el' with a three foot rule lying across it to show the size. It's a handy garden feature plant. Pic.2 is Vr. 'Evita' a nice little plant which flowers and pups regularly. Pic.3 is Alcantarea 'extensa' another plant that makes a nice garden feature, Pic.4 Neo. 'Kiko' just starting to colour up and Pic.5 "Just hanging around."

All the best, Nev.

Still no one around - I'll see if posting a few pictures of Dendrobiums instead of Bromeliads can flush anyone out.

All the best, Nev.

Good morning.
Its back to very cold after a pleasant weekend. Some light rain yesterday evening but pretty chilly here and nearly a frost this morning.
Amazing how the weather can change so much in a few hours. The sun is out now and it should be a nice day.
My plants are not suffering form the cold at all. It probably comes from them not being pampered and having to brave the weather when they were living at the old house.
It pays to be strict with them...lol

Nev, I love the dendrobiums and had a few but never brought any here.
I stuck to my cymbids as I find them much hardier when they have to be out in the open.
I have a lovely long flower stem on one of them now. Poor thing is totally confused as to when it should be flowering.
Usually around October for mine.
The brom pics you showed are lovely.
My Braz-el was getting be nearly 2 foot across and as much a sI loved it, it was way too large to keep here.
I was looking at a couple of the larger broms yesterday and the neos DeRolf and Exotica Velvet are growing right over all the others.
I will leave them for the winter, but will have to move them once it warms up.
Neo Burbank is not far behind either.

My zygos have put on a nice show here and I am now waiting for Spring to see all my cyclamens and clivias in flower. The daphnes are coming out and the perfume is lovely.

Brian, I love your stripey brom in your pic 3. I have a weakness for these ones.
I hope the weather has been kind to you up there so you can get on with the shadehouse.
Having some of the family there for a time will be nice for you. Maybe you can talk them into helping you build.

Trish, I hope your Mum is keeping warm down here . You are going to be excited to have time with her again.
I hope all your slithery friends have gone off to hibernate for a while. I doubt if I will see any at all where I live now as there is no bush for them to hide in.
There were quite a few Tigers around at the house, but they were never a worry as we always gave them plenty of room .

Better get myself going as its a day for my hospital group. We are going to be cooking yummy baked potatoes to have for lunch with coleslaw & cheese.

Enjoy the day everyone and keep safe.

no new brom pics so I'll post a couple of the oldies.
neos Exotica Velvet and DeRolf

Jean.

Hi all,

We have had a couple of sensational days up here, for the long weekend and today.

A few of us went down to the Railways Heritage weekend at Central Railway for a ride in the old steam train. Our grandson is train nutty and loves to watch them go by at home so he was wrapped going in the train. He couldn't believe how many of them lined up at Central station.

Jean, will have to put the Exotica Velvet on the wish list. It has nice colouring to it.
It will be good to have some of the family staying here but I like to do things on my own for some reason, probably just so I can do it at my own pace and can sit down when I want.

Nev, Neo ' Braz-el' would chew up the garden space its a big one.
The variegated plant in a previous post is one from Bromeliads Australia at Wyee, but I forgot to ask if it was named and you are right with the Vr ospinae var gruberi.

Anyway better get back to the bookwork.

Pics 1 + 2 A couple of old trains
Pic 3 Vr. ' big red'

Brian

Hi Jean and Brian – I’d just about given up hope of seeing anyone posting, it’s been so quiet for the last couple of days I thought our members had all gone into hibernation.

Jean – I’m gradually getting on top of the brom jobs to do for winter. Last week I soaked everything in Seasol and today I’ll water everything in readiness for giving them all a drink of water mixed with Condy’s Crystals (Potassium permanganate) tomorrow. This along with the Seasol helps plants withstand extremely high and low temperatures better (a bit like a winter tonic) and it also helps your plants build up more resistance to disease.

The good thing about Condy’s Crystals solution is that it’s a pure form of Potassium and I found this helps improve the colour of Neo’s and Bill’s considerably.

Neo Braz-el is a beautiful plant but unfortunately as you say, it’s big and needs plenty of space which is something I don’t have any more, so I’m limiting myself to just the one plant in the garden.

Your mention of cooking for the hospital group reminded me to tell you of our Brom Society’s “Christmas in July” which is something we have done for the past few years. It used to be a BBQ but what we now do is to have a “Soup and Desert” day which seems more appropriate given the cooler weather. Each year different members volunteer to make the five different soups and five different desserts and there’s always plenty for everyone. We still have the usual sales table, popular vote competition, and a very brief general meeting to keep things legal, but it’s more of a social occasion than the normal meeting and gives members more time to “mingle” and talk to each other.

Brian – I too have a grandson who is “train mad” and every month we have to take him over to the Light Rail Museum for a train ride or two. There are several different trains, steam, petrol and diesel and he knows the names of every one of them.

That would have been an interesting day at Central Station which I’m sure I would have enjoyed but as I don’t travel very well any more it wasn’t to be. My elder brother drove trains on the NSWGR all of his working life and started off as a messenger boy and worked his way up to driver. Whenever they would bring a steam train down the coast to Kiama or Nowra I was always able to ride in the cabin of the engine with him and his mate, a memory I’ve never forgotten.

I was always the envy of all the other kids as I related what I had seen on my trips (especially through the tunnels) and how I was allowed to pull the rope that operated the whistle. I’m glad I'm not a child in this day and age as it’s certainly a big “No No” now with Occupational Health and Safety and definitely a “sackable offence” for the driver and the fireman if caught………………………… Unfortunately the "good old days" are a thing of the past.

Next time your grandson visits you could show him our I.L.R.M.S. web site at: http://www.ilrms.com.au/seymour.htm It shows the whole of our complex with coloured pictures of every locomotive we have; 4 steam loco’s, 15 non-steam loco’s plus a miniature railway with two steam loco’s and one petrol and one diesel loco. Certainly enough to keep a little bloke interested.

That’s it from me today and I’ll finish with a few more old pic’s I found while sorting out my brom files recently.

All the best, Nev.

hi all -
I am keeping busy with class in the mornings & work in the afternoon.

I am learning heaps of clever tricks with Word in class. and was able to put some of my new skills into practice at work.

The only problem with all this being busy is I am too tired to do much more than check my emails & blob in front of the tv - eyes open - brain asleep.

cheers - Teresa

Hi Everyone!

Sorry I have been AWOL, will not be back on till the weekend as we sadly lost a friend last week unexpectedly and had their funeral today so I am away at the moment but not much on the computer as such with all that's going on.

Look forward to catching up with you all when I return.

Take Care & Happy Gardening!

Trish

Hi everyone – It’s good to open up DG and see something to read which isn’t the case on the other forums I’ve been visiting.

Teresa – Nice to hear from you again even if it is briefly and it’s even nicer to hear you are getting involved in your course and are working again.

You’ll have to share some of your new found M.S.Word tricks with us when the course has finished and you graduate with honours.

As for being tired, well you just have to retrain your body to the new programme, even though Miss Sugar would prefer you to just sit in front of the TV and keep her company.

Trish – Nice to hear from you again also; I suspected something was wrong when we hadn’t heard from you and I’m sorry to hear of the passing of your friend. I’m looking forward to your return when things settle down again.

Just a quick one this morning as I have a dental appointment to have a broken tooth repaired, no big deal but as the old saying says, “a stitch in time saves nine” and one trip to the dentist is definitely better than nine….. Ha! Ha!

More old pic’s I’ve dug up during my file sorting. Pic.1 is Neo. ‘Fire Wheel’, Pic.2 Vr. fosteriana (White clone), Pic.3 Till. ‘Kolbii’, Pic.4 Neo .’Skotak’s Tiger’ and Pic.5 is a little mounted Neo.‘Strawberry Cup’.

All the best, Nev.

Trish, sad news about your friend.
Take care of yourself & we will look forward to catching up with you when you are ready.

Nev, I should get myself to the dentist, I broke a tooth about a year ago...
I had told the dentist I thought it was cracked but he said no.
Well it obviously was and then I was made redundant & it didn't really hurt - in fact it was less painful than before.
Well I suspect it is contributing to my headaches - and starting to bother me.
At least once I get paid I will have money for the dental work.

Have to say that's a nice selection of broms you posted Vr fosteriana (white clone) is striking - I do like those stripes.
the Neo. Strawberry Cup looks like it is defying gravity to stay upright with such a small base for support... is it really holding itself there by virtue of strong roots & will power?

I finished my work book today & after doing some revision I booked my assessment for tomorrow.
If I can pass that I will move onto Excel intermediate.

cheers - Teresa

Hi everyone – Not much happening here, after my dental appointment yesterday, I managed to finish off my watering in preparation for the plant’s drink of Condy’ Crystal solution today. In the afternoon I did a bit of weeding in the front garden until the old aching knees told me it was time to pack it in. I’m managing to get back on top of things by doing as much as I can each day; a little every day seems to work well for me.

The relation between your tooth and your headache could be a reality as I once had a friend who was getting terribly painful aching in his left ear. After two different doctor’s couldn’t find anything wrong with his ears, it was finally suggested he visit a dentist who found he had an abscess on a tooth and the earache was what they call “referred pain”. Strangely his tooth wasn’t sore at all, just the ear. Once the antibiotics cleared up the infection causing the abscess, the earache stopped as well.

Neo. ‘Strawberry Cup’ is just a small Neo which has been around for a long time having been registered in 1973 by J. Carrone, from a cross made from Neo. ampullacea 'Midget' x carolinae 'Marechalii'.

That particular plant was a pup that was left over during repotting, and along with another left over pup called Neo. ‘Sarmentosa’ x ‘Cracker Jack’ were used as an experiment. I decided to see how they would go mounted on old bits of bush wood. (To answer your question; yes the roots are all that’s holding it on as shown in Pic.2.)

Both ups were initially tied on with fishing line which after about a year was removed when the roots were finally able to support the plants. I entered both plants in the Mounted Neo. Section at our 2013 show and won a first prize with ‘Strawberry Cup’ and third prize with the ‘Sarmentosa’ x ‘Cracker Jack’ (There were only seven other entries in the section though). Unfortunately they are now about three years old and at this stage neither has produced any pups.

To finish I have posted Pic.1 Neo. ‘Strawberry Cup’ (with the first prize sticker) at the 2013 show, Pic.2 Close up of its root attachment to the wooden mount, Pic.3 Neo ‘Sarmentosa’ x ‘Cracker jack’ (also at the 2013 show), Pic 4 Neo. lilliputiana (probably the smallest of the Neo’s) and finally a "trick plant" Ae. ‘Ensign’ (Albino).

This was an albino sport which was removed by the grower and tossed in the bin only to be rescued by her husband, potted up and unbeknown to her, entered in the show. It managed to sneak past the entry clerks and made it to the show table for judging. Obviously the judges dismissed it, as albinos aren’t eligible as they will die shortly after being removed from the mother plant.

However, what started out as a joke, proved to be a major attraction when the Show Marshall decided to leave it on the table to show people what can sometimes happen with a chance sport. It created a lot of discussion and I think everyone that came into the hall photographed that plant before it was eventually binned again on the Sunday evening after the show finished.

All the best, Nev.

Good morning. My fingers are just thawing out after my walk in the frosty morning air.
brrrrrrrr....
There was frost everywhere, but its bracing to walk on such lovely calm mornings, even if I have to put my hands under the hot water tap when I get back...

So far all the frosts dont seem to be worrying my broms and other plants at all.
Other than they are losing some color due to the cold, they all still look great.
I think when I take the pups off in Spring, I will either give away or bin the old mothers as they are getting too big and with the extra pups being potted, I wont have much room.
The pups dont take long to grow nicely so I can have the space to show them off.

My daphne is flowering very nicely and the perfume at the front door is lovely.
My roses are starting to look a bit bare as the leaves fall.
They will getting their annual prune in another month or so.
I like to leave it until winter is nearly done, so they get a good start as the warmer weather comes in.
I have found, that in the colder areas down here, its better to be a bit later, as often the plants will start some new growth which then dies in the cold.

Not much else doing here. I have racked up my first 1000kms in the new car and it will have its first check next week. Just a quick check on all the main things and to answer any questions I may have.

Trish, so sad about your friend , but we will see you back later . I hope your visit with your Mum will help ease the sadness.

Brian, I guess I know how you feel about doing things yourself. I am like that too.
It took a while to get used to my dear hubby wanting to help when I was tackling some project...lol
That help led to so many laughs as we tried to combine both our independent natures to get anything done. We worked out that if I directed and he did most of the hammering, the projects were done mostly as I wanted..
The first shadehouse we built was about 10' x 12' and hubby said it was way too big, I would never fill it. ...lol
Six more shadehouses later, he was still laughing when he remembered those words..

Teresa, sounds like you are really getting along with all the learning. It will all be so handy for you in your work.
How is Miss Sugar doing when you are out now? I am sure Baz spoils her when you are not looking
I remember those early days of tearing up her blanket and the floor.
I am sure she is much too ladylike for such things now.

Time for another cuppa for me. I need it to hold and get my hands warm again.
Its going to be a lovely day as was yesterday.

Just a few old pics today..

Pink Iceberg. The Icebergs are some of the best roses.
Molineux, a lovely yellow.

Keep warm and safe
Jean

Nev - I am impressed by how strong the roots on Neo. Strawberry Cup must be.
That albino neo is quite eye catching... I can see why it wouldn't survive - no chloroplasts to make food for it.

Jean - I love those roses, the Iceberg rose has been a popular choice for many years due to the disease resistance it displays.
The newer coloured versions share that trait, Burgundy Ice is a particular favourite of mine.

I'll have to take note of the name Molineux as that is a stunning yellow rose, love the shape & colour.

Miss Sugar is happy to snooze while I am work - hubby gets home in the afternoon & then she curls up & sleeps on the couch with him.
Being in season has put her in energy conservation mode which is good as she can't go out for a run for another 2 weeks.
She won't be having puppies - her breeder has her handsful and has said we can either breed her ourselves - or get her spayed.
So in a couple of months she is going in for the op & can start her obedience career in earnest with no interruptions by Mother Nature.

Take care all - Teresa

Hi all,

Been a nice couple of days here with the odd shower or two.

Trish, sorry to hear of your friend, take it easy.

Teresa, good luck with the dentist. I have had a few times where teeth have cracked and old fillings come out leaving nerves exposed. Never felt pain like it, had to either have a drink of scotch or buy a bag of ice and crunch on that or both.
Sounds like we will be able to get tips off you about using the Office program.

Jean, I think most long term marriages end up working out that the wife does the directing and hubby does the hammering, haha. Things seems to run a lot smoother that way.

Nev, if there was a clump of albino pups ( if possible) and the mother dies, would all pups die as well?

Pic 1 Neo. 'Brushstrokes'
Pic 2. Neo. 'Splash Splash'

Brian

Hi everyone – Today’s the second Sunday of the month and according to our youngest grandson, “It’s train day!” So we’re taking him to the Light Rail Museum for a steam train ride this morning. By the time we get home again there will just be time for a bit more weeding before the Sunday rugby league comes on the TV and then I become a “spectator”.

Jean – I loved living at Dunmore before we moved up the road to Shellharbour, but the one thing I’ve never missed is “the frosts”. We used to cop the lot out there, white ones and black ones and they did knock some of the more delicate orchids around. The good thing about them though was that they were usually a sign of a nice fine day to follow, (once we had thawed out).

It looks like you’re enjoying your new car and isn’t it amazing just how quick you can chalk up 1000 kilometres. We got our car back from the repairers on Friday and wasn’t it good to get it back after using a little plastic toy “Noddy Car” (Mitsubishi) to drive while it was off the road.

The grand kids loved it as it was bright green and almost brand new but it sounded to me like the engine was badly out of tune. I mentioned this to the bloke we rented it from and he said it sounded like that because it was only a three cylinder engine. I’ve never been mechanical minded and only ever had V8’s, 6 cylinders or 4 cylinder cars; in fact I never even knew they made a three cylinder and thought he was “having a lend of me” until I checked in the Log Book in the glove box and found it to be true.…………………….I guess you learn something new every day.

Nice roses Jean; we used to have a nice gold one at Dunmore called either Sutton’s Gold or Suttor’s Gold (I’m not sure of the name) but it was a beautiful rose with a wonderful perfume.

Teresa – So Miss Sugar is going to be de-sexed is she. In my opinion, definitely a good move if you aren’t going to breed her. Over time I’ve had three de-sexed bitches and they were all the most wonderful affectionate dogs you could ever wish to own and they all lived to over 15 years of age. She will become more of a member of the family than she is now.

At last I’ve finally started sorting out pic’s into alphabetical order so today I’m posting a few samples from the A’s. Pic 1 Neo. ‘Amazing Morn’, Pic 2 Neo. ‘Africa’, Pic.3 Neo.’Allan’s Marbles’ #1, Pic.4 Neo. ‘Aleena’, and Pic.5 Neo. ‘Apricot Nectar’

All the best, Nev

Good morning.
Its a very still morning here with a red sky announcing that more winter rain & cold are near.
I notice that my broms are now starting to look a lot paler due to the cold we have had so far. It takes them a while to show it but I see no frost damage at all and I would have seen some by now .
I am so glad they are doing well . I must have known the right ones to bring here as I am sure there were quite a few that would have just given up and said they didnt like being so cold...lol

At this time of year, I get the sun shining right in the window onto where I sit with the computer so its very nice to enjoy it without going outside.
I watered all my pots yesterday and gave them some Seasol. I have been giving them Seasol for years, so this may be why they are so hardy.
I used it at first on my brugmansias then ended up just giving the whole garden a dose every time.
I see my jonquils are all flowering now and lots of other bulbs coming up.
I am hoping for a nice show of tulips as I was given a lot of the bulbs from the lady who used to live in the unit next door to mine. She had moved into the nursing home and her daughter gave all the bulbs to those here who wanted them.
I saw them in flower last year and hope they are as lovely again.

I am still pulling out plenty of nasturtium seedlings along the retaining wall.
They covered the whole area when I moved here and the first thing I did in the garden was to pull them all out.
I knew I would be getting self seeded ones for quite a while.
I had them at the old house where they were free to roam and cover areas where nothing much would grow. They are not pretty when they die off and I did not want to be having to have to get rid of the huge plants every year here.
I have planted lots of succulent pieces from the house , which will do a better job in covering the wall and never have to be touched.

Brian, I had to laugh at your comments regarding the directing of things in the garden.
My dear hubby thought he knew best about where and how to build the shadehouses, but was really not up on how plants can multiply when a garden fanatic like me is around.
He used to laugh at me many times, as the first place I went when out shopping any time was into the garden center.
He always said if he lost me during shopping, he would find me where the plants were.
I hope you are getting some work done on your shadehouse despite having family stay.

Teresa, I bet Sugar is enjoying being inside with Baz and of course , being spoilt by him.
You have done really well with your classes and will be able to use all that knowledge as you find work to suit you.
I hope that Sugar takes to her future lessons in obedience as well...lol

Nev, great pics of the roots on that little brom.
I was always amazed at how they can hang on to something without seeming to have many roots. It seems that even being "domesticated" hasnt dulled their instincts about growing high in trees and needing to have a good grip.
I am looking forward to Spring and watching my pups grow like their parents, but the way they have grown so far, I think they will be bigger than the mum when I remove them...
I have only ever seen an albino brom in pictures. They do look great at first but then with no color, they start to look a bit drab to my eyes.
I love the color in all the broms. The spots, stripes and various other markings seem to gain a vibrant life as they color up.

Well no more news from here so I'll go make another cuppa and sit here and enjoy the sun.
Take care and stay safe.

more old pics today.
aechmeas.. Mirlo, Lucky Stripes & Mend.

Jean.

Brian - I think crunching ice is what split my teeth - I had very deep molars & they were drilled & filled by the school dental nurses - sadly I was at school right when the dental nurses used us poor kids to practice on. THe more fillings they did the more it justified their positions.
I probably didn't need most of the fillings & it left my teeth weakened.
My brother was a couple of years behind me and by then they had changed the way the dental system was run, all about prevention so the fewer fillings they did the better they were rated.

I don't mind the idea of a wee dram of whisky to ease the pain...

I like your Neo Brushstrokes, it has the kind of colour & markings that appeal to me.

Nev - nice selection of pictures there.Neo Africa is a real stand out with the deep colour & glossy leaves. Unusual shape to the leaves as well & a nice rosette shape.
Good pic of Apricot Nectar, I can see why it is popular.

Jean - I'll bet you are glad to miss the frosts, we have actually not had too many - it was a whole 5C this morning & everything was dewy but not frozen.
I like the 3 broms you have pictured - Ae Mirlo is a nice colour & lovely glossy leaves.
Look forward to seeing pics of your tulips, they are one thing I haven't tried growing despite the climate being good for them here, and I rather like the look of them.

Today has been a cracker & we had a lovely time at dog club setting up our first Rally Link course.
Basically those in charge of the Link organisation put a course together & send it to all member clubs around NZ.
Measurements are included as it is important every course is identical - and then each club runs a competition day & results are put together to find the overall winners.
It means people can compete without having to go to a show so it is a great way to introduce newcomers to the sport.
I could have run Sugar at the end of the day but it is against our rules to have an in season bitch on the grounds - and I don't think she wants to do more than eat & sleep right now.

Take care all - Teresa

Hi everyone – Well the boys had a “ball” at the museum. I say boys because just as we were leaving, my grandson’s little cousin came to visit so we took him as well. They spent all morning there riding on the steam train and the miniature train, as well as sitting on an old hand trike in the museum building.

It’s happened again; this morning when I posted, the only two other posts were from Jean and Teresa, yet when I popped back in again just now I see there’s one from Brian also which didn’t show this morning even though it was posted before mine…….Seems the DG Gremlins are still in my computer.

So I’m sorry Brian, the reason I didn’t answer your question was that I didn’t see it until just now.

To answer your question, “if there was a clump of albino pups ( if possible) and the mother dies, would all pups die as well? The answer is yes they would die.

The reason being that all plants need chlorophyll to survive and albinos don’t have any. Chlorophyll is the green pigment that gives most plants their colour and enables them to carry on the process of photosynthesis (allowing plants to absorb energy from light)

Albinos will survive for some time while attached to the Mother plant as they are being sustained by her in much the same way that an unborn baby draws nutrient from the mother prior to birth. Usually as soon as the mother plant stars to flower, the albino pup/s will start to die as the supply of chlorophyll is cut off. The same thing also happens if the Mother plant dies.

There is an excellent description of this process with step by step pictures which can be seen at: http://www.bromeliad.org.au/news/BSA1006b.htm

The two pic’s below are of two little boys having a great time. Pic.1 is taken in the train as it leaves the station with my grandson on the left and his cousin on the right. Pic.2 shows the boys sitting on an old hand trike down in the Museum Building.

All the best, Nev.

Hi to you all where ever you are. It seems that all of the forums have suddenly gone quiet with no one posting, so as there's no one to talk to, I'll just post a few pic's from the "A" section of my partly updated picture files.

Pic.1 Neo.’Allan’s Marbles #1, Pic.2 Neo.’A Nice Try’, Pic.3 Neo.’Allan’s Marbles’ #2, Pic.4 Neo.’Aleena’ (Mini) and Pic 5 Neo. ‘All Expectations’.

All the best, Nev.

Hi Nev - looks like the boys had fun, it's nice when cousins can spend time together enjoying the same things.
I wasn't very keen on my nearest cousins, mostly because their mother scared me... she was so unlike her 1/2 sister my mother it was hard to believe they were related.
In fact for a long time I never really thought they were because Mum's stepmother had them refer to her as the step sister...despite them all having the same father.
I enjoyed visiting some of my cousins on my father's side - their parents made us feel welcome & they lived rurally so there were country things to do like visiting the horses or walking along the edge of drainage ditches ...
We used to take turns at swapping one child for Xmas holidays, one year the boys would be in the country & the next year the girls.
One of my cousins taught me to swim, she was younger by a couple of years but her Mum had her into competitive swimming & since she had to train in the school pool every day I went along & by the end of that summer I was a proficient swimmer.

Anyway back to broms... I like the Neo 'A Nice Try', it really lives up to the name...it's a great colour & I like the way it looks as if it has been painted on leaving brush marks up the leaf.
Ne 'All Expectations' has a similar painted look - one leaf appears to have missed a bit of the bright pink, and the paint almost bleeds into the green of the rest of the leaf.
Neo Aleena - what can I say - lovely spots :) I do like the gold spots on that dark background.

take care all - Teresa

Hi Teresa – It looks like it’s back to just you and me again.

I never had much connection with my cousins as they were all much older than me, so all of my childhood was spent playing with the local kids in the little village where we lived. We spent endless days rabbiting, fishing, bird nesting, swimming and just playing cowboys and Indians. There was only a couple of rules we had to follow, be home by meal time or you missed out and always tell Mum where we were going. It was a great environment to grow up in and sadly one that isn’t available to many kids today.

A little bit of history about Neo. ‘A Nice Try’, this was one of a group of seedlings from a cross of Neo. ‘Rosea Striata’ x Self and was one of several seedlings I gave to friends. My friend hasn’t registered the name as yet but says he will when he gets around to it.

I’m posting five pic’s of some of the other plants in the grex to just show the variation you can get when you self-pollinate a plant.

I bought Neo. ‘All Expectations’ a few years ago because I saw it in exactly the same way that you describe it. Some years the red colouring will extend further along the leaf if it’s grown in bright light and if grown in low light the red is just confined to the centre which once again shows the important part good light plays in achieving good colour.

Neo.’Aleena’ was a little miniature I once picked up at the local markets at just 50c. for a pot full. It’s a very strong grower and very dependent on good light to get colour like that shown in the picture. The original plant I bought had been grown in the shade and was just green with a bit of slight spotting on the “skinny “leaves. I just got it out of curiosity to see how it would respond to being grown in good light and was quite surprised at the outcome. It’s also an excellent candidate for basket culture or mounting on tree fern or a suitable tree.

That’s it for today, and as I said above the pictures are of plants all from the same grex as the Neo.’A Nice Try’ I posted yesterday.

All the best, Nev.

Hi Nev - interesting variation in that grex.
I think pic 2 is the stand out with the colour & markings being very appealing...
Number 1 has a slightly more subtle charm but that striping effect is lovely
3 & 4 have stronger colours than 1 and would probably appeal to most brom lovers.
Compared to its 'sisters' number 5 is a bit of a plain jane... but the green is a nice shade & it would be lovely next to a stronger coloured brom - I think sometimes you need that kind of contrast to make the deeper colours 'pop'.

I am churning through the paper work at work - only one folder left to do so I hope they round up a few more to keep me busy.

The course is going well but I am really finding intermediate Excel challenging. My pace has slowed right down but I am still ahead of the work sheet so happy with that.

take care - Teresa

Hi Teresa - Just the two of us again, I wonder where the others have all gone?

Good to hear your course is going well, you'll be able to be our official M.S.Word "help desk" when it's all finished. Heaven knows, if the others are anything like me, they will need lots of M.S. help also Ha! Ha!

Just a few more pic's from the "A" section of my files today. The first three names are pending registrations 1 Neo. 'Always a Chance', 2 Neo. 'Always Nice', 3 Neo. 'Always Different', Pic 4 is Neo. 'Amazing Morn' and Pic. 5 is one just for Teresa as I know she likes "spots". It was a plant I bought as Neo. 'Auroa' but I think it's wrongly named and is probably Neo. 'Domino'.

All the best, Nev.

hi Nev - wonder where everyone else is?
Hopefully just busy & will catch up soon.

meanwhile, love that spotty brom, delightfully dotty Domino :)
Also think Neo Always A Chance is something special, it has colour, markings, shape, glossy leaves...
Same goes for Neo Always Different as well - and I love that shade of green.

Anyway - take care
Teresa

Hi Teresa - It's good to see you haven't deserted the forum also.

Anyway I don't have a lot of time today so I'll just put up a few pic's to keep things going and hopefully have a bit more time for a chat tomorrow.

All the best, Nev.

Friday - somehow it's hard to fully appreciate the weekend when you aren't working...
I am so looking forward to a bit of a sleep in tomorrow!
Sunday I have to be up early & I like to make hubby breakfast in bed as a bit of a thank you for him taking me to dog club week in, week out.
And Sunday is his only morning for a lie in as he is up extra early on Saturday to put in a few hours at work.
Just hope the weather improves, it has been nasty here, snow to low levels, floods, bitterly cold.
ChCh hasn't been hit too hard - a little sleet, a lot of rain & chilly temperatures.

Nev - the brom in pic 2 seems familiar, have you shared it before?
I absolutely love it, the colour is gorgeous!

Take care - Teresa

EXPRESSION OF LOVE -This stunning bunch of 20 Red Roses with seasonal filler wrapped beautifully in pink paper packing and completed with a red ribbon bow is a stunner and will sweep her or him off her or his feet. Order Now Click this Link http://bit.ly/1JXnSvq
send flower online

Hi everyone - Well saying "everyone" is a bad choice of words as there doesn't seem to be anyone here any more, except for "floraindia" who seems to think it's a site for advertising cut flowers.

Floraindia - This site is for the discussion among friends who have a common interest in growing bromeliads. IT ISN'T A SITE TO BE USED FOR ADVERTISING PURPOSES.

To all of our other absent members, please come back and don't let this little forum die like so many others before it.

All the best, Nev.

I'm checking in each day Nev, only exception is the odd day where I don't actually turn on my lap top.

How is your alphabetising of broms going?

Going back to the last post when you shared some pics, my favourite is No 2 but they are all nice plants.
Which one would you rate best of those?
And why :)

I feel like I am learning so much from the discussions on this forum - and when I see broms advertised I am now seeing beyond pretty markings and looking at leaf shape & size, overall evenness of growth, any shine to the leaves...

take care - Teresa

Hi all,

Finally, the sun has come out after a week of on and off rain. It's a good chance to have a look around.

Is this the peak time of year for the plants to produce their pups? Seem to have them everywhere and at last I have a vriesea that has produced a flower and pup, how bloody exciting. The rest of the family think I am not all there.

Teresa, do you go to a college for your course or is it an online affair?

Nev, there has been some nice coloured plants you have posted recently. Do you move any of your potted plants under cover from out in the yard over the colder months?

Pics are of plants with pups, first one has four growing off it at the same time.

Have a good weekend.

Brian

Hello everyone.
Finally I am back on my laptop. I have had computer issues for a few days and have just spent a very long time on the phone with a very nice computer tech. I had to do a lot of removing and reinstalling things I had never heard of before. It can be a bit daunting to be doing all this on ones own while being directed over the phone.
Anyway, I am back again and I hope its the last time. I am getting very tired of all the problems associated with Telstra.

I will get back and read the last posts since I was on, but at the moment I have to get a few things done here after being on the phone for so long.
For a start I need a cuppa and then I have the washing sitting in the machine waiting for me to press buttons.

Its starting to rain here again. Its been on and off for the last week. At least its not so cold without the wind around so much.

My broms are all looking great as if they dont realise its winter...lol

No pics today , but I wanted to let you know I havent left the ship.

Take care and keep warm.
Jean.