Bromeliad Society of Victoria Inc. VOL 33 NO 3 June – July 2016

The June General Meeting will be held on Wednesday

22th June, in the Multi-purpose Room at Phoenix Park.

Details Page 5

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CONTENTS 2016 Calendar of Events ................................................................................................2

Editorial ..........................................................................................................................3

BSV President’s Report ..................................................................................................4

General Meetings...........................................................................................................5

Report of the April General Meeting .............................................................................6

Fees For 2016 .................................................................................................................7

May Field Day at Andrew and Sue Raff’s "Chrysalis" .....................................................8

Preparing Your Plants for the Show Bench and for Sale ................................................9

The BSV Is Turning Fifty ...............................................................................................10

Discussion Group Meetings .........................................................................................11

Sensible Changes To My Routines by Herb Plever .......................................................12

Tillandsia Species .........................................................................................................15

Subscriptions ................................................................................................................16

2016 CALENDAR OF EVENTS 22 June General Meeting–Lloyd Godman, “Explorations in Art with Bromeliads”

24 July Field Day 24 August General Meeting 25 September Field Day – Jo Wilkins, Troposphere 26 October General Meeting 12-13 November BSV Annual Show 14 December Christmas General Meeting

FRONT COVER:

Tillandsia species, photo by Chris Larson.

See article on page 15

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EDITORIAL Winter is now upon us with cool days, rain, and cold nights. It is lovely not having to water so often. The colours are still vibrant on the broms, particularly the neoregelia leaves. I have started to move the more delicate broms to more protected places although we are less likely to suffer from frosts in much of suburban Melbourne these days.

Some of our more experienced members believe that it is better to have fewer, but better cared for plants, and as a novice, I couldn’t buy enough broms. Now I see the wisdom of their advice. Have as many, or as few, plants as you are able to look after well and you will appreciate them more. See Herb Plever’s article on page 12.

Now is a good time to start choosing and preparing show and sales plants. See the article on 9.

Don’t forget to send me your contributions for ‘From a Member’s Garden’, and any other articles, large or small, to share with BSV members.

Happy growing,

Jill

FOREST DRIVE NURSERY

Located at REPTON, South of

Coffs Harbour. SPECIES AND VARIETIES

All quality plants at reasonable prices Plants for all level of collection.

Beautiful TILLANDSIA, VRIESEAS, NEOREGELIAS,

AECHMEAS ETC. Visitors Welcome, but phone first

(02) 6655 4130 A.H.

For mail order send S A E: PO Box 2

Bonville, NSW, 2441

Prop. Peter Tristram www.bromeliads.com.au

MIDHURST BROMELIAD

NURSERY

Specialist Growers of Tillandsia

Seedlings and other Genera

Hard grown to suit all Australian

conditions.

Wholesale and mail order only.

Write for price lists of Tillandsia

and other genera to:

P.O. Box 612

Hurstbridge, Vic 3099

Phone ( 03 ) 9718 2887

Email : midhurst@netspace.net.au

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BSV PRESIDENT’S REPORT Hi Members,

What a balmy autumn we’ve had this year; certainly we have had a very good run up to now. I’ve even gone back to placing trays of bromeliads onto the flat roof at the back of my house to make the most of the good autumn light but without the heat and as yet no frost. See photo below.

There seems to be a lot of Aechmeas out in flower at the moment providing a good splash of colour in the garden, and they last a long time in colour so they are a great genus to bring inside especially if you have a north facing window that will make the most of the autumn light. Autumn is also a great time for

deciduous trees with their leaves of browns, golds and reds but the fallen leaves can play havoc with bromeliads. One member mentioned that he lays shade-cloth over his plants that are under deciduous trees and shakes the leaves off every now and then until the worst of the falls are over. Great idea.

The May Field Day was held at Andrew and Sue Raff’s place at Fingal on the Mornington Peninsula. In the past the Raffs have opened their garden up to the BSV earlier in the year so it was great to see the garden in a different season. Their multitude of bromeliads still had terrific colour and many of their 150 Aloes were in flower. Thank you Andrew and Sue for again being wonderful hosts.

Technology got the better of us at the April General Meeting when the delivery of Hawi Winter’s New Zealand Bromeliad Conference talk came without sound. Fortunately we had Jane Baker on hand to provide her own interpretation of Hawi’s photos and slides so it was still a most entertaining and educational presentation.

The next meeting is on 22 June and I look forward to seeing lots of plants on the display benches and sales tables, plus don’t forget to bring something to share for supper.

Bruce Lee

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GENERAL MEETINGS These are held at Phoenix Park Community Centre, Rob Roy Rd, Malvern East. Melway Ref. Map 69, D2. Meetings commence at 7:45 pm sharp. AVAILABLE AT EACH MEETING

At each meeting you may take advantage of the following: 1. Raffle. 2. A Bromeliad Book Library. 3. Members plant sales table. 4. Plant display and competition. 5. A section for your problem plants. Ask the experts what they think. 6. Books for sale. 7. Accessories for sale. 8. Lots of other interested growers to meet and chat with.

OFFICE BEARERS 2015-2016

Position Name President Bruce Lee Vice President Chris Larson Secretary Kerry Lusk Treasurer Chris Baker General committee Barry Robinson

Jill Abbott

Robert Mather

Len Murray

Mike Raymond

Non-committee Positions Membership Bev Leishman Secretary: Librarian: Gayle Kerr Plant Vote: Bev Leishman Raffles: Gary Lee Plant sales: Cheryl Johnston Supper Coordinator Jane Baker Patron: Maurice Kellett Life Members: Nance Esmore, Chris Larson, Jean Nicol, Len Summers Editor: Jill Abbott Production: Brian Abbott

Deadline for all editorial and advertising is the first Tuesday of publication month.

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REPORT OF THE APRIL GENERAL MEETING held at the Phoenix Park Community Centre on Wednesday 27 April 2016

A pleasant balmy autumn evening saw over 30 members welcomed to our meeting

by President Bruce Lee. We enjoyed a colourful bench of quality exhibit plants, a

well-stocked sales bench, a feast of plants from the Bridson collection for sale and a

supper table well laden. Member Noel Harcourt extended thanks to members who

had contributed plants and labour to the introductory development of bromeliad

planting at the Melbourne Zoo’s monkey and peccary enclosures. We are encouraged

to go and see their handiwork and we look forward to it.

RESULTS OF THE POPULAR VOTE: TILLANDSIA: A spectacular large hanging pot of Tillandsia fasciculata ‘Mexico’ grown by Len Summers took the honours. Foliage 75cm tall and 65cm wide revealed 7 lovely blooming bracts varying from pink to lime green. Nice one, Len.

OTHER BROMELIADS

OUTSIDE OR SHADEHOUSE GROWN: Geoff Beech’s garden again triumphed with his Guzmania conifera supporting a stunning double-headed inflorescence of yellow with red tips on a big plant.

GLASSHOUSE /POLYHOUSE GROWN: A small group of entries here saw an unusual species a winner. Cryptanthus Sinuosus, a deep purple-leafed plant adorned with a central collection of white flowers, was grown by Geoff Beech.

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ARRANGEMENT: Two entries contested for honours here and Jill Abbott’s round plastic black pot filled with a variety of neoregelias of similar size won the day. A really lovely showpiece, Jill. A close second was a black ceramic dog pot with a clump of Tillandsia bergeri on its back... really cute!

NOVICE: Thanks to our new members who brought along some of their plants for this section. It was great to see Gwenda Eleftheriou’s Vriesea ‘Mt Townsend’ run out the winner. This 60cm wide by 30cm high plant held a cream inflorescence tipped with magenta above its cream and green mottled foliage- a lovely plant, Gwenda.

This Indian summer of April/May was surely great for our broms. I hope you found time for dividing and repotting your plants in getting them in good shape before the winter- it’s nigh upon us! Happy growing,

Bev

FEES FOR 2016 Fees were due on 1 January 2016 and can be paid at General Meetings, by direct deposit, or by cheque .

If your details haven’t changed, you will not need to fill in a 2016 Membership Form.

Details of fees, and methods of payment, are on page 20 of this newsletter.

If you deposit at a bank, please let Bev know via email

The April newsletter was the final newsletter for unfinancial members.

Bev Leishman

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MAY FIELD DAY AT ANDREW AND SUE RAFF’S "CHRYSALIS"

22 May 2016 promised to be a cloudy but mild Sunday which was just right for a stroll around Andrew and Sue Raff’s property, called ‘Chrysalis’, in Fingal on the Mornington Peninsula.

Andrew and Sue have an extensive range of bromeliads, succulents and native species spread out across a number of garden areas radiating out from their house. There are also several covered areas that are packed with bromeliads from ground to shade cloth.

Visiting the Raff’s garden in autumn meant that there were quite a few Aechmeas in flower including a magnificent Ae. orlandiana ‘Black Beauty’, which consisted of six or seven plants all of which contained a flower bract. There were also a lot of large aloes in flower which provided a stunning feature to this garden.

The quality of the bromeliads at Chrysalis can be seen in the Neoregelia ‘Lime and Lava’ that Andrew is holding in the photo. With so many plants in this massive garden caring for them must be a full time job but the Raff’s also make time for a menagerie of chickens and ducks, while still producing prize winning bromeliads. Even though their garden was officially open to visitors between 11:00 and 4:00, the first attendees arrived around 10:00am and the last

to leave were at 4:30pm. Having their visitors arrive throughout the day allowed Andrew and Sue to spend more personalised time with BSV members which made it a more relaxed day. Sue and Andrew estimated that there were between 15 and 20 members in attendance during the day.

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The Raff’s always put on a great day and this was no exception. Their hospitality and the quality of their plants contribute greatly to what is always a worthwhile event on the BSV calendar. Many thanks Sue and Andrew.

Bruce

Ed’s Note: if you were unable to make the May Field Day, Chrysalis of St. Andrews is open all year by appointment.

PREPARING YOUR PLANTS FOR THE SHOW BENCH AND FOR SALE TIPS FROM THE EXPERTS: Maurice Kellett and Chris Larson

POTTING UP

Do this NOW. Do not repot plants immediately before the show. Let them grow into their pot and establish firmly.

Remember, Competition/Exhibition rules require that you must have owned the plant for at least THREE (3) months.

Place your plant in the CENTRE of the pot for display.

CLEANING YOUR PLANT

A few days before the show, put your plant on an angle to thoroughly drain all the water from the plant. Your plant must be dry for display.

Defoliate all dead and damaged leaves. With some plants you can split the leaves down the middle with your fingers and pull outwards. Other plants may require sharp scissors to cut the leaves near the base. Some may simply pull away. Be careful to not damage any small offsets/pups that may be sprouting. Remove any weeds and foreign matter/plants.

Use Clensel or similar to wash sludge out of the crown. Wash all leaves with Clensel or Velvet soap (any potash soap) and remove any bugs, blemishes and dirt spots.

Clean the POT itself OR slip it into another new pot to act like a sleeve.

Top up the plant with clean, fresh potting mix.

PREPARING THE FOLIAGE

You can ‘mend’ fractured leaves by cutting them back, creating a shape to resemble the original form. Most leaves will spring back into shape when this is done. If a plant has been previously trimmed and died back again, do not trim it a second time: remove it. Advice is to leave trimming until a day or so before the Show.

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To help a damaged leaf, support it with another plant until it hardens in time.

Wipe foliage clean. Don’t apply any polishing agent.

FLOWERS

To help with the display of your plant you may stake flowers to enhance the visual appearance. Try to display plants in the form that they grow naturally. This is particularly important for Tillandsias.

LABELLING

You must identify ALL your plants as yours: i.e. put your unique three initial code on a tag. e.g. CRA, ADC, TLR

You must identify the plant itself: even the genus itself , e.g. Vriesea if the species is unknown, but preferably include the full name. e.g. Tillandsia stricta.

This also applies to all items brought in for sale. In this case, a pricing label with your initials and the price in whole dollars is also necessary.

Reprinted from BSV newsletter, Vol27, No.3 June/July 2010. Notes were written by Bev Peacock from the April 2010 General Meeting talk.

THE BSV IS TURNING FIFTY

Yes the Bromeliad Society of Victoria is reaching half a century and that’s a good reason to celebrate, so we are planning a 50th Anniversary event on Saturday, March 18, 2017, at the Matthew Flinders Hotel in Chadstone. The celebration will take the form of an afternoon of local and non-local speakers and a dinner. There will also be plant sales, an auction and recognition of BSV members who have made a significant contribution to the society. The Matthew Flinders Hotel provides an elegant setting for this event with space available for all aspects of the occasion and accommodation options for those who don’t wish to travel home on Saturday night. More details will be provided over the coming months but mark it in your calendar now so you don’t miss out. 50

th Anniversary Committee

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DISCUSSION GROUP MEETINGS The Discussion Group will meet Wednesday 15 June, 2016 at the Kevin Heinze Garden Centre, 39 Wetherby Rd, Doncaster, at 8 pm. The discussion group meets on the third Wednesday most months to talk bromeliads in an informal setting. The meeting is not of a technical nature. However arrangements may change at the last minute, so if you are not on the discussion group mail out, please call Chris or Len to check that arrangements are still current if you plan to attend. All members are very welcome - don’t be put off thinking it will be technical. Future Discussion Group Dates: 20 July, 17 August, 21 September

Till. rothii X Till. concolor Chris Larson

Guzmania ‘Firecracker’ Geoff Beech

Neoregelia ‘Peppermint’ Bruce Lee

Aechmea ‘Fulgo Ramosa’ Barry Robinson

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SENSIBLE CHANGES TO MY ROUTINES BY HERB PLEVER

After I became truly addicted to broms, I compulsively acquired every plant I could lay my hands on - whether or not I had room. Soon I was growing hundreds of potted plants and so many cork logs of tillandsias that they needed six consecutive soakings in my bathtub to do all of them. I built a 7 ft. (2.1 m) waterproof tray that had a manzanita “bromeliad” tree in it with pockets to hold “epiphytic” plants, and I set up large fluorescent light units to light it. I was growing masses of plants in every room of our large apartment. To raise humidity I ran four humidifiers which were capable of keeping relative humidity to 40–50% even in the winter. At the same time I was operating a law office full time, and Sylvia and I had subscriptions to the opera and theatres and went to dance classes once or twice a week. AND, I had and still have the monthly chore of putting out BROMELIANA. Six one hour soaks of my tillandsia logs took a full Saturday, and I would spend a half day on Sunday to water my pot plants. Needless to say, my wife was justly angry at this substantial intrusion into our weekend time together. Compulsion or not, my marriage was more important to me than my hobby, so I had to make major adjustments. I began to reduce the number of tillandsias I was growing until I ended up with just two 1 hour soakings every week to 10 days, which I could complete in 3 hours early in the morning. Then I started to make a deep reduction of the number of pot plants which freed up our weekends and substantially eased tensions about my hobby. My routines for my bromeliads were rationalized and I have kept to them for many, many years. Nonetheless, the task of providing humidity for plants and my fertilizer routine continued to be more tiring and a burden. When I “advanced” into my 80s however, I found that just maintaining such a collection was becoming a physical burden. I saw that with all of my plant and other activity I was becoming more and more tired at the end of the day even though I was in relatively good health. I started to reduce the number of potted plants, until today I only have 75 of them. I have learned to control my impulse to acquire plants, and I keep the collection at that limit - although I always can find room for a small tillandsia I can squeeze onto a cork log. The cork logs of tillandsias hang in the window of only one room. I used to grow a lot of big plants such as Portia petropolitana var. extensa and x Vriecantarea ‘Inferno’ (John Arden gave me a big pup when it was still called Vriesea ‘Inferno’). Now I have only a few big plants as Hohenbergia corriea-araujoi,

Plant unit in south facing bedroom window

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Aechmea ‘Del Mar’ and Aech. ‘Blue Tango’; growing space is limited so I have a limit to my collection. I admit that if I could find one of John Arden’s x Vrieslandsia or Herb Hill’s x Vriecantarea ‘Seeger’ or x Guzvriesea ‘Happa’ at a reasonable price I would succumb to buying it - but first I would dispose of a few plants to make room and keep to my limit of potted plants. I also had to do something about the chore of keeping four humidifiers filled with water, which in the winter required an almost daily routine of carrying a large 2 gallon bucket of water for each humidifier. By the time I reached 89 years of age that bucket felt like it weighed 50 lbs (23 kg). There was also the additional hard job of weekly or bi-weekly scrubbing the humidifiers from the crud that collected in them. So I decided my plants would have to adjust to lower humidity and I disposed of the humidifiers.

To reduce my pot plants I disposed of the big living tray and light units. I have only one light unit in a bedroom under which I grow many Cryptanthus, a few small Guzmanias and Tillandsia dyeriana. Now I have broms growing wick-watered in trays on the double window sills of my kitchen, three

bedrooms and my living room. The photo on page 12 shows a

large unit in my south-facing bedroom window where I grow 24 potted plants and Tillandsia xerographica and T. seleriana mounted on small pieces of cork. These Tillandsias get soaked along with the Tillandsia logs. Among the potted plants are Aechmea‘Blue Tango’, Aechmea ‘Morgana’, a mini form of Ananas comosus, Billbergia ‘Strawberry’, a dwarf form of Billbergia ‘Fantasia’, a number of Guzmanias and mini-Guzmanias such as Guzmania ‘Orangeade’, Guzmania ‘Nacho’, Guzmania musaica and mini Guzmania. ‘Charlene’, the albo-marginated form of Guzmania ‘Denise’, Tillandsia dyeriana, Tillandsia ‘Samantha’ and some Vrieseas such as Vriesea ‘Evita’, Vriesea ‘Vogue’ and Vriesea ‘Stoplight’. The photo above shows the two plant trays in my kitchen window which faces east-south-east. In the trays are: Nidularium innocentii var. lineatum, Billbergia ‘Strawberry’, Aechmea echindna, Billbergia ‘Poquito Mas’, Aechmea farinosa var. discolor, Hohenbergia corriea araujoi, Vriesea guttata, Quesnelia ‘Tim Plowman’, and mini Guzmania ‘Mariah’. Still, there remained the increasingly burdensome routine of fertilizing. I am a proponent of frequent high strength fertilizing which I accomplished by pouring the fertilizer into the cups. Then, within 24 hours, I flushed out the fertilizer from each plant by pouring fresh water into it.

Plant trays in kitchen window

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I use two different fertilizer formulas: N11.5-P9-K21.5 and a low nitrogen 5-12-26, (mainly for Guzmanias and Tillandsias) at strength of 1/4 tsp. to ½ gallon (2 litres) of water. An eighth of a tsp. of magnesium sulfate (Epsom salt) is added to each pitcher. I fertilize weekly during the strong growing season, then bi-weekly and monthly into fall, winter and early spring. My eureka moment to resolve this issue came when I attended Nigel Thompson’s seminar on “To Feed or Not” at the World Bromeliad Conference in Hawaii last year. Nigel operates a bromeliad nursery in Queensland, Australia, and he is an expert on good horticultural practices. He is a strong proponent of fertilizing, but instead of using overhead watering he foliar sprays his plants. When I returned from Hawaii, I decided to adopt that spray practice. I keep spray bottles with my two different fertilizer formulas in a few rooms and I spray my plants a few times a week in the growing season. When the seasons turn cold and darker, I use the low nitrogen fertilizer on all my plants whenever I water them. This seems to be working well and I am spared from my previous routines of first applying fertilizer and later flushing it out from every plant which took too much time from my day. The adjustments detailed in this article became absolutely necessary as I aged, but they also provided collateral benefits. With a smaller collection, now I have time to closely inspect my plants when I water them. I check to see how each plant is growing and if it is well established in the mix, and I consider if I need to move it into better or lower light. I watch for insects and inspect the undersides of Vriesea leaves for evidence of spider mites. Those tiny critters are in every environment by the millions, and they just love to suck on Vriesea leaves. I also look for signs of embedded scale insects and for shiny patches of scale eggs on the topsides of the leaves. Mites and scale insects thrive in a dry, hot environment. The relative humidity in New York is fairly high from about May through mid-October. In the fall, winter and early spring the air is usually colder and therefore drier as it cannot hold much moisture. Winter heating further reduces humidity. When I ran my humidifiers I was able to keep relative humidity at 40% or better, but now that I’ve disposed of them I’m happy to have it around 30%- 35%. When it really gets cold the humidity will be even lower. We don’t run the blower motors of the heating convectors in each room; we keep the valves open and rely on the short lead pipe to provide a little heat at the windows. When it’s really cold we put on a sweater. The cool environment and the humidity from evaporation from brom leaf axils inhibits pests from establishing themselves in my plants. I always have available a spray bottle of Safer’s Soap, alcohol, cue tips, a sharp knife and tweezers to take care of problems with insects. Inspection at every watering insures that I can put them down before they spread all over the collection. I don’t use chemicals any more, though I often wish someone would manufacture a safe form of Cygon 2E. That systemic pesticide was incredibly effective in killing every

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kind of insect infestation, but it was banned from production when it was discovered that it contained a carcinogen. I’ll be 92 in March, and I am fortunate that I’m still able to maintain my collection (I water less frequently by letting the plants almost dry out), and I still publish BROMELIANA monthly and on time. Sylvia and I continue to dance twice each week, frequently attend HD operas, the theatre and cinema. To have a good life and a rewarding marriage you must be open to make sensible adjustments and learn to compromise… Reprinted from Bromeliana, Volume 53, No.1 January, 2016 Herb Plever is a long-time editor for the New York Bromeliad Society newsletter.

TILLANDSIA SPECIES

Chris Larson

This was a plant I imported a couple of years ago, and it seems very close to T.thyrsigera, but I have yet to key this out.

This plant is like one of the Mexican cliff dwellers that were the subject of Len Colgan’s presentation to the BSV last year. Often they send up adventitious (seedling-like) pups early on in their growth. These should be farmed for the future, as often they do not send up pups after flowering. I am hoping that I get pups after flowering as, unless I do, I’ll be waiting on seedlings which would put the next flowering cycle a long time in the future. This plant, assuming it is T.thyrsigera, should be fine to grow outside in Melbourne, in bright filtered light.

A close-up of the inflorescence appears on the cover of this newsletter.

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SUBSCRIPTIONS

Single: $20 per annum Family: $25 per annum All membership fees are due on 1st January each year.

In order to reduce costs and keep the BSV financial we will only send an electronic copy of the newsletter to you where you provide us with an email address. If you also require a hard copy of the newsletter, in addition to an electronic copy, then we are asking that you pay an additional $6 on top of your annual subscription to help cover some of the printing and postage costs. Please refer to the Membership Form for details or contact a BSV committee member if you have any questions.

PLEASE NOTE THAT PAYMENT OF MEMBERSHIP SUBSCRIPTION CAN NOW BE MADE BY BANK TRANSFER. THE SOCIETY’S BANK DETAILS ARE: BANK NAB ACCOUNT BROMELIAD SOCIETY OF VICTORIA INC. ACCOUNT NO. 48-585-2809 BSB 083-132

PLEASE ENSURE THAT DEPOSIT/TRANSFER CLEARLY SHOWS THE MEMBER’S NAME.

C O L L EC TO R S C O R N E R G AR D E N W OR L D

810 Springvale Road Braeside Vic 3195 Phone (03) 9798 5845 Fax (03) 9706 3339

Email: sales@collectorscorner.com.au Website: www.collectorscorner.com.au

BROMELIADS – comprehensive collection together with a large selection of Imported Tillandsias available. 10% discount on most lines to Society members on presentation of their cards.

CACTI – from small varieties to advanced specimens SUCCULENTS – living stones, crassulas, agave, aloe and many more. BONSAI – from starters to specimen plants. CARNIVOROUS PLANTS – from seedlings to advanced plants.

All opinions expressed in the Newsletter are those of the authors, not necessarily those of the BSV.