Bromeliads ??? plus more cacti and succulent photos

These are the photos of what I was calling 'spiky things', thinking they were just some sort of cacti. From the link Chrissy put up in the Tea Room, it seems they may be broms.
Also some photos of other plants that were all in together with my epi collection. I think they like me because they have all grown from tiny scraps. I now have a cacti / succulent area under the octopussies ( aporos, rhipsalis etc )
Steve and Brian may be interested in these. I am always willing to share if you see something you want.
Jean.

The aporos , rhipsalis etc that I call the octopussies. You can see why..
The flowers on the aporos can rival the epis .

This ones name is Heliothancereus Grandiflorus.
It has not flowered as yet but was very shabby and fell over, so I now have 3 pots of it.
kk , I think was the one who said it will have a red flower.

the label said this is Opuntia Microsphaerica. I hope I have that right.
it is hard to handle as it just falls to bits all the time.

This one also has not flowered but is growing well. I did have a few more bits of it but sold them at the local market. I will have to repot this one very carefully as it does grow babies fairly quickly.
I did have a similar one that had a pinkish /white 3" flower. It looked the same but may not have been. It died .

Now the spiky things. no. 1

no 2

no 3

this is the one labelled as a Puya.

Found the photo of the flower on the round ball type cactus.

Wow! You really do have green fingers...growing in pots as well! The spiky things look like various forms of Aechmea. (a type of bromeliad..there are the aechmeas.guzmanias, neoregelias,Vrieseas, porteas , puyas..heaps of types but what's in a name? they are all beautiful)..one of yours looks like aechmea recurvata..they get nice drooping red teardrop infloresences..not spectacular but they make a nice clump fairly quickly and the spikiness doesn't encourage turkey digging..LOL..when you get the brace of turkeys and assortment of discarded, disgruntled and disenfranchised pythons that are heading your way!

Our botanic gardens are full of them..and they seem to grow very well here..I have lost a few to turkeys as when they jump on them and the water can't get in to the centre, they dry out. Some have survived by sending out pups but some got so bruised they rotted. I love the porteas...and the Vrieseas..well..all of them..LOL..some don't get much in the way of flowers but have wonderful spottled and mottled leaves..Do they grow well down south? Cheers, Kat

I found a website for as nursery in Brisbane...Hmmm..now that I know it is here, I am going to have to visit. There is an online nursery in malanda, NQ, that is a lot cheaper than other sources I have found. This is the link to the Brisbane one..I will find the other. Happy browsing. It's overcast and gently raining here so perfect for browsing.

http://www.bromeliad.org.au/

Here's one just north of Brisbane. It has changed hands recently. http://members.ozemail.com.au/~bromagic/

Still looking for the link to the other one.

This message was edited Dec 27, 2008 6:07 PM

Hello Kat. Mine are out in the full sun and all weather. I got them in with the epis and not knowing what they were , I just dumped them all along the fence . I said grow if you want and they have. I remember to throw water at them mostly but they are all growing well. I may have to look after them a bit better now I know what they are.
The start of another collection ?? Hhmmmm.

Sorry Jean ...yes I see some of those pinapple type ones there ...I also see the pretty grey ones (succulents) that I have from you there ...they are so pretty and so easy ...the leaf drops off and next thing you know there is a new plant.
I think the fact you ignored those spikey things are what kept them alive, they aren't to pleased with too much water, I think we kill things with kindness.
At least you know what they are now. Wait till Sue finds out.

G'Day
77Sunset, The round cactus with two pups looks like Echinopsis multiplex and if the pink flower is the same plant that settles it. The name has been Changed now to E. oxygona. Your Opuntia looks like one I had donkeys years ago and we nick named it "The sausage plant". I was thinking it might make a good rootstock plant because it reproduces so rapidly and as you said bits drop off all the time, if it is the same it will have virtually no spines but the glotchids will get you every time if not careful. If it is the same I would like some bits if we can organise it.
Photo of my E. multiplex taken a couple of weeks ago.
Regards

No problems Stake, D-mail me with your details.

G'Day 77 Sunset
Your Helianthereus is synonymus with Trichocereus huascha now called Echinopsis huascha, you can see why I get annoyed with confusing botanical names, I think that this is probably my favourite cactus, the flower is a dazzling red, it flowers from Spring to Autumn and if you have a clump there is nearly always a flower showing in that time span. I would have posted this flower earlier but I can never see too much of it, so everyone else will have to bear with me. Re the sausages CT tells me that you are sending some stuff to her so just pop them in with hers. Just roll them in dry newspaper so the Postie won't find a spine or two and then put them in whatever you like to use for packaging.
Thank you Stake

Wow Jean,
As a beginner cacti and succulent guy I can see I've got a long way to go.
I have started collecting thanks to the half dozen laying around at Sussex Inlet when we bought it. I have not paid much attention over the years but I can't believe the beauty of the cactus flower. We don't have a lot of room at home so Sussex is the perfect spot to house a collection. I will begin to send some pics in the hope of some ID.
Cheers
Steve

Hi Jean, I don't know how I missed this thread! Dykias! No, I'm not being rude, but thats the name of your spikey succulent looking bromeliads. they are desert dwellers and for all the world, I don't know why they are bromeliads and not succulents! Puya is also a bromeliad. Palmbob did an article on these two not to long ago. http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/1319/ for Dykias
http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/1318/ for puyas
Lucky you!

Hello ww. i am amazed at what I have after seeing those articles. These plants were all in the epi collection when I bought it and I just threw them along the fence as nothing much. You should have seen their condition. All dead looking and potbound. Too prickly to do much with then. I was more interested in getting the epis saved. After a while. I noticed the prickly thingys were looking better so I actually dug them into the soil. They have really taken off over the last few months and are looking very nice. I will leave them where they are as they seem to like it. They get full afternoon sun and are pretty dry all year. I think having the large trees removed, that were next to them may have helped . I will now endeavor to ID them from the pictures on those links you kindly provided.
Have a great day.
jean.

No worries Jean, see, there is a bromeliad for every climate!

Now I've started on another collection. Oh no !!! I definitely will not buy any more bromeliads to add to them..
I'll have to see what else is lurking around the place. I think the plants know a soft touch when they see one and stick themselves right in front of me. Look at me Look at me, I can hear the darn things.
I'm sure they bring in relatives during the night. I can't remember having so many plants of so many types.
Just as well I'm a laid back gardener.
Jean.

Lol ^_^