Hunter District Bromeliad Society

Exotic Bromeliad Flower Show.

Free Admission.

Henderson Park Hall.

38 Lockyer st Adamstown.

Plants and books for sale

Show held in November

Who is Mulford – put together by David Skimmings

Mulford Bateman Foster (December 25, 1888–August 28, 1978) was a man known by many as the "Father of the Bromeliad" as he was instrumental in the discovery and introduction of many new species of Bromeliad to the United States.
He also devoted his life to hybridising and contributed widely to the knowledge of the plant species. He was a man of many talents including naturalist, explorer, writer, photographer, artist, horticulturist and a well respected landscape architect in Florida.
Numerous bromeliad plants found today are named after various Foster family members and the genus Fosterella is named in honour of his work.
He grew up exploring the woods around his New Jersey home under the guidance of his mother. With her inspiration, Mulford grew up making his own small gardens with the wild plants that he had gathered.
He eventually started collecting snakes, lizards and other reptiles whenever he could. He attended school and graduated in 1905 as salutatorian from Elmer High School spending his free time out of doors.
During his years at Cold Springs, Mulford kept busy on the property developing the former hotel grounds, growing an orchard, raising fruits and vegetables, his reptiles and squab as well as involved in some fashion with the bottling and selling of the spring water which came from underground sources.
He was already renowned as both a Naturalist and lecturer. The New Jersey State Board of Agriculture had realised the value of his work and arranged to send him on a lecture tour around the state to discuss the value of snakes, lizards and turtles at the Farmer’s Institutes held at the various counties during the winter shortly after his marriage He was known to many as the “Snake Man” having specialised in the reptiles and for that matter all forms of nature for many years. He was a charismatic speaker and always pleased his audiences with his enthusiasm and accentuation of humorous and interesting facts. Newspaper articles stated that he had in his possession the largest private collection of living reptiles in the state.
In 1918 an opportunity presented itself that intrigued him with a training course offered by the Davy Tree Expert company in Kent, Ohio. Since he already had an affinity with trees it was a simple step to learn how to sell tree service to the people who had large estates in the area of Baltimore, Washington and Virginia. He remained the Davy company representative of these three states during the years 1918-1923.
In 1923 he moved his family to Florida and began establishing himself as a well respected landscaper, first in Palm Beach where he was in charge of landscape design with Exotic Gardens, then moving to Orlando, Florida. Many Orlando businesses and estates have Mulford's artistic mark on them still present to this day.
Mulford began traveling to Mexico in 1935 taking his first trip with Tibor Pataky, an artist friend. This trip was written about in his book Adventures in Mexico.
He returned with Racine, his second wife in 1936 and began making frequent trips to South America over the next twenty years. Mulford had a great interest in finding both new and old species of plants that could be used as both indoor decorations and landscape material.
In 1938 Mulford made a Cuban expedition and from this trip he introduced Agave caribbea to Florida.
In 1939 Mulford set off to Brazil again for six months covering much better known areas than their previous trip. Mulford was again able to find new species in places that were supposedly already previously explored and declared exhausted by prior collectors over the previous one hundred and fifty years. Mulford recollected a number of “lost” species during his trips to Brazil.
In 1940 he made his second six month expedition to Brazil and Trinidad this time specialising in bromeliads, orchids and philodendrons. From this trip he introduced many new bromeliads and the now famous self-heading philodendrons.
World War II put a stop to further expeditions for some years. Mulford turned his attention to cultivating and popularising the bromeliads.
The principal bromeliads that were hybridized were confined to the Billbergia and vrieseas subfamilies. One popular hybrid was the Billbergia 'Muriel Waterman' (Billbergia horrida var. tigrina which he crossed in 1946 and it first flowered in 1950. He had significant influence in the world of bromeliad growers and popularised the use of the term "pups" for naming the offshoots of bromeliads.
In 1946 Mulford resumed his expeditions. From Brazil he brought back the begonia acetosa and introduced it to US gardeners. He and Racine also traveled to Columbia. This trip followed the earlier trail of the famous Edouard Andre to confirm and add to his discoveries 75 years before. These were considered one of the most important bromeliad areas of Latin America.
In 1948 he made a plant expedition around South America collecting in Dutch Guiana, Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia Costa Rica, Cuba, Puerto Rico and Trinidad.
Several years later in 1951 he would leave on a Venezuelan plant expedition.
Foster moved a six trunk date palm from 718 Magnolia to Leesburg. He won a design award for this project in 1953.
In Mulford’s early twenties he started experimenting with photography. This led directly into his early formal painting. A Graflex camera became his constant companion on field trips exploring for snakes, the primary subject on his film of those early days. He photographed large estates, their gardens and specimen plants.
Mulford experimented with his photo’s tinting and shading to get more depth, structure and colour.
Soon he had made the step from shading photographs to actual painting. His first painting was a canvas of a garden scene with a wall and large vases. It was hung in a Baltimore Show. From that painting forward he made time to paint. It was realistic work, always of plants. He went on to paint hundreds of impressions, stylized and decorative works, motifs, symbolised art on different mediums on canvas, wood and rice pith.
While Mulford was exploring South America, he initially would paint his renditions of the plants that he and Racine had collected including the flowers and fruit found. In the beginning he used oils which meant carrying around the tubes of paint as well as having to let the pictures dry each night.
In South America this had its disadvantages when the weather was wet or temperatures too cold to allow the oil paintings to dry. He subsequently went to colored pencils which eliminated the need for drying, could be done quickly and simplified the supplies he needed to carry around.
Mulford had the reputation of being the first hybridiser of the great self-heading philodendron after bringing it to the US in 1940 and as a hybridiser had extensive demands to maintain. In 1951 he received the Herbert Medal for his work and discoveries in amaryllis.
This was followed in 1954 to Jamaica with his final plant collecting trip made to Mexico in 1957.
In 1962 he received a citation from the American Horticultural Society Congress for contributions to the knowledge of bromeliads.
The business of growing and cultivating his plants took hours of his time. In 1953 he and his wife, Racine purchased 12 acres of property north of town and named it "Bromel-La" and 6 years later their house was built and they moved on to the land. He had two greenhouses built each 30 X 60 feet. The property would be a showcase and sanctuary of plants that had been both collected as well as his hybrid bromeliads during the 20 years that he and Racine owned the land.
Aechmea orlandiana is one of the new species discovered by Mulford in Brazil and named after his home town of Orlando, Florida.
Mulford is estimated to have found between 170 and perhaps over 200 species this list is currently incomplete. Sometimes it was discovered in retrospect that he had indeed discovered a new species.
Mulford was a prolific story teller in addition to his other talents. He lectured on garden and natural history subjects to colleges, universities, schools and garden clubs throughout the United States as well as in Venezuela, Costa Rica and Canada.
In 1974 Mulford experienced a devastating cerebrovascular accident leaving him paralysed on one side and almost entirely confined to a wheelchair although despite the disability he continued to sketch with his good hand.

In conclusion, I really struggled to get a snapshot and time line of Mulford Foster’s amazing life on 2 simple pages. He published many books and journals. I hope this inspires you to go on and read about Mulfords many talents in more detail and to learn from his knowledgeable writings.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mulford_B._Foster

Bromeliads in Full Sun? Tips for Landscape Planting by David Skimmings ( some information from the internet)

There are some Bromeliads which can handle full sun… but they only tolerate this condition, it's not always ideal. All Bromeliads prefer some mid day shade. However, if you're planting in full sun here's some tips to maintain the quality.

Firstly look at how leathery the leaves are. The tougher ones are going to stand up better. The Billbergias are more upright and are designed in the wild the handle more extremes. Eg Billbergia pyramidalis (as above)
The thin leaf vriesea will always suffer from burning.
Watch where the sun travels in summer and winter, a fence or tree might afford the outdoor plants with just enough midday protection.
Under- tree planting is a good natural option for many reasons.
Look to some of the succulent like broms if planting in rockeries in the full open. These might work better for you, not all of us get a cool coastal breeze and everyone’s yard is different.
When possible plant during the cooler months. This will give the Broms. time to acclimatise to the hot summer sun.
Avoid planting near asphalt, white painted walls or over decorative "white" stone chips.
Use mulch minimally… no more than one inch deep.
Do not fertilize heavily in full sun, this will cause tender growth to burn easily.
Obviously referring to any of the species plants that grow in the full sun in the wild are a safer bet.

If your starting off and you want to play it safe, dot the broms. around in the garden ( still in the pots) where you think you would like them. Only use a few experimental ones so any unexpected losses from bad locations are not done en masse. Arranging broms. in the pots in the garden allows a lot of flexibility.

Aechmea gigantea – put together by David Skimmings - aded 30.6.18

In this photo above the flower head stands on an approx. 1 metre scape (or if you like a stalk)

After there was a fair bit of interest in the plants I put into the plant auction, I thought some info gathering was needed. There were quite a few comments from members saying they have an Aechmea gigantea in their collection but have never seen it flower. This made my photos of my recently flowered plant seem fairly special. I’d like to say yes I made it happen by doing something secretly unique however; the plant did flower naturally by itself. I too thought it would never flower. The other point I thought was more strange was I had taken about 6 pups off the original plant and those pups had produced more pups and the original mother hadn’t flowered after 5 years. Then to my great surprise and delight there it was, like a massive Ae. faciata.

You can see by the cigarette lighter that it is a nice size, which is rewarding seeing as the metre long leaves have caused more grief than joy with its serrated dark 3 mm spines.

My plants are under shade cloth which would explain why they are green and not rose coloured as described by some members.

The documents say this plant has or had a distribution in the mountains of north-eastern Venezuela.

Leaves 12-20, almost wholly erect and forming a cylindrical tube, approx. 1 m long; Sheaths sub ovate, very large, covered with brown scales;
Scape slender, 25-50 cm long, exceeded by the leaves, densely white-tomentose;
Scape-bracts erect, abruptly acute, entire, membranaceous, greenish red.
Inflorescence very densely tripinnate, corymbose, wholly fertile, white-tomentellous; Primary bracts sub erect, narrowly lanceolate, acute, brown-lepidote especially beneath; Spikes with 10 polystichous flowers. Floral bracts lance-ovate, attenuate to a very slender mucro, equalling 3/4 of the sepals, the margins free from the rhachis;

Flowers sessile.

Sepals free, erect, strongly asymmetric, mucronulate, 9-14 mm long, white, more or less tomentellous;

Petals erect, 8 mm longer than the sepals, white, bearing 2 plumose-lacerate scales 1 mm above the base;

Filaments of the second series highly adnate to the petals;

Ovary ellipsoid-stipitiform constricted at apex, 8 mm long, 4 mm in diameter, densely tomentellous; epigynous tube broadly infundibuliform; placentae apical; ovules rather few, short-caudate.

VENEZUELA. W. Morris s n (US). Sucre: Cristobal Colon, Mar 944, Pittendrigh 1400 (US).

For those who would like to read more Derek Butcher kindly supplied these articles on request so thank you to Derek

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1987 Page 6 BROMELETTER

LETTER BOX - From A.W. of Kingaroy. "I have had the Giant Red Aechmea for years and it has not flowered. It is growing under a small melaleuca tree where it gets sun and filtered shade. It has increased and a pup has been removed from it. This is now in the shade house and is as big as the parent and also offsetting. The one in the shade house also gets good light. How long does it take for these plants to flower? Am I doing something wrong with them? I recently read that this plant can grow very tall, but mine would be less than a metre high. One thing I like about it is that it houses a huge green frog, one of the biggest of its kind I have ever seen."

Answer: - You evidently have the smaller of the two forms of Ae. gigantea. I often wonder what triggers the flowering mechanism in some plants. The elevation of Kingaroy may give you nights similar to those of Sydney, where I was never successful in flowering of this plant. Have members anything to add about flowering Aechmea gigantea?

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AECHMEA GIGANTEA (Baker 1889). by Olwen Ferris in Bromeletter 25(1):10. 1987 Enquiries about Aechmea sphaerocephala, known by many as the Giant Red Aechmea, reminded me about its early beginning in Australia. In 1963, the first editor of Bromeletter, Bob Agnew, sent a parcel of bromeliads over to America for identification. One plant, grown from seed labelled Aechmea gigantea, truly lived up to its name. It was a massive cylindrical tube over a metre long and rose tinged. The answer came back that Ae. gigantea was a synonym for Aechmea sphaerocephala so we all changed the name on our plants to Aechmea sphaerocephala. While living in Sydney, N.S.W. I never saw a plant in flower, but on moving to Queensland my plants all flowered and I started to have doubts as to the name being correct. In Queensland, I also found a smaller form that measures under a metre in height. The inflorescences of both forms are shorter than the leaves and more closely fit the description in Bromeliaceae by Smith & Downs, of Aechmea gigantea. While Aechmea sphaerocephala, on p. 1950, does list Ae. gigantea as an old name for that species, on page 1799 you find the description of the true Ae. gigantea so this plant was correctly named in the first place. One of our members recently visited The Marie Selby Botanic Gardens in Florida, U.S.A. and saw an aechmea that looked like our Ae. sphaerocephala and was surprised to find it labelled Ae. gigantea. This information sent me to my books and it was easy to see on looking up Ae. sphaerocephala how the mistake came about, as no flower had been sent with the leaves to be identified.

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Paradise Point, QLD. 4216 AECHMEA GIGANTEA. (Continued) By W.O. Morris. in Bromeletter 25(3): 10-11. 1987 A short note about my part in the early history of Aechmea gigantea as told in the Jan/Feb. Bromeletter.

I know nothing about the raising of A. gigantea from seed in 1963. I got my plant very early (I think pre the formation of The Bromeliad Society of Australia and I suspect from the late Charles Hodson of Melbourne). After growing it for a number of years, I finally force flowered it with carbide. I then sent a leaf and flower to Dr. Lyman B. Smith. This is the specimen listed in the monograph Bromelioideae by Smith & Downs, under Aechmea gigantea and under my name. I believe it was somewhere about 1963, as we moved to Cairns in 1964, so it was before that. Dr. Smith wrote me a very excited letter, as this was the first material of Aechmea gigantea he had seen. The original type specimen was a painting (Monograph "Type Morren Icon”), and according to Dr. Smith the plant had been lost for almost 100 years until this was received from me.

I doubt therefore that seed of the species was available in 1963. My plants have never set seed - have yours? ( Ed. comment- I never managed to flower my plants in Sydney and on the few times they have flowered in the 16 years we have been in S.E.Qld., they have never set seed.) You said Bob Agnew sent a parcel of Bromeliads for identification and as he didn't send a flower, how do we know what was sent as Aechmea sphaerocephala ? ( Ed. comment- The plant was a talking point at one of the Society meetings in Sydney. Evidently this was after you moved to Cairns. At that time we all changed our labels from Ae. gigantea to Ae. sphaerocephala.) As far as I was concerned, my plant, pre 1964 was unnamed. Then, from then on it was Aechmea gigantea. The name A. sphaerocephala never entered into it for me. Have you ever seen plants that you think are A. sphaerocephala? (Ed. comment- No, I have never seen a plant that I think is Ae. sphaerocephala.) Is it possible that your smaller grower is A. sphaerocephala? ( Ed. comment- No, my smaller growing Ae. gigantea is identical in every way to the larger form and I have flowered them both at the same time with identical inflorescences.) It would be interesting to know who Bob Agnew sent his plants to for identification. If it was Dr. Smith it may have just preceeded my material and he may have suggested Aechmea sphaerocephala as he thought Aechmea gigantea was lost. ( Ed. comment- I think you would be correct in thinking that Bob's material was sent to Dr. Smith before he had seen your material. My guess is that he got his plant from the same source as you did. If it was Charles Hodson, I wonder where he obtained his stock.) That is my information about the history of Aechmea gigantea. Thanks Bill, for letting us know about your part in the history of Ae. gigantea

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Notes by Butcher 2003

A. sphaerocephala is in the sub-genus Chevaliera as too was the A. gigantea of

Baker when it was in the genus Chevaliera.

A. gigantea that we have been talking about has been linked to Billbergia and Hoplophytum and is now treated as being in the sub-genus Aechmea and is close to A. aripensis and A. orlandiana !

What great fun this is with the changing of genera names especially where the same species name is involved!!

Copper Poisoning – by David Skimmings
Information out together form the net
Bromeliads are all very susceptible to being fatally poisoned by absorbing copper and copper compounds into their systems. Copper is often used in commercial treatments for plant diseases and MUST be avoided at all times. Another unexpected place copper is widely used is the treatment of timber used in and around the garden. Direct contact of the leaves on the treated timber, the water dripping from or running over the treated timber and onto the bromeliads will poison them. Various treatment companies use different copper compound for various reason e.g. Copper azole (CuAz), Ammoniacal Copper Quaternary, Chromated Copper Arsenate, copper naphthenate, Copper Chrome Arsenic (CCA).

Chromated copper arsenate (CCA) is a wood preservative used for timber treatment since the mid-1930s. You may have heard more about treated pine in regards to playgrounds etc. The main point from this is it is now well recognised that these chemicals, including arsenic, leach readily from the wood. A study found that 12–13 percent of the CCA leached from treated wood buried in compost during a 12-month period; hence the strong possibility it can easily harm your plants.

I have been aware of this for some time. Never the less “accidents” do happen and I unthinkingly put a spiky Aechmea right under the drip line of my pergola. I have usually been conscious of this but I poked the potted plant in a spot out harm’s way (to passersby). As soon as I spotted the damage, “too late mate”, it was one for the bin. Not to worry, there will definitely be more faux pas before I’m done.

P.S. For those that aren’t aware, this treated wood is not to be burnt in the BBQ or open fires etc due to the poisonous smoke that results. This is worth reminding the next generation as they come along.

References: http://www.thelogfactory.com.au/treated_pine_chemicals.aspx, http://en.wikipedia.org

Cryptanthus (A collection of condensed points from many articles) by David Skimmings

The name Cryptanthus is derived from the Latin word crypt meaning "hidden" and the Greek word anthos meaning "flowers". The name is not completely accurate. The small, white, stemless flowers are far from hidden rather perched in the middle of a relatively flat plant.

The cryptanthus, or earth stars, have small colourful rosettes of flattened leaves, sometimes looking like striped starfish. Firstly discovered in 1831 many others found up to1860 and the first hybrid was grown in1884.
This genus consists of about fifty true terrestrial saxicolous species (not counting hybrids). They have low spreading rosettes of leaves numbering from six to twenty. The leaves are succulent, and edged with teeth, and may be three to twelve inches long.
They like very good light for colour development but, if they are outside in a hot climate, they really need protection from the summer sun.
There are many species that grow in a full range of conditions in Brazil; sunny, shady, moist, dry, in forests, and at the ocean side. There is a Cryp.variety to fit any light condition. C. beukerii and it's hybrids like to be shaded, moist and humid. They are excellent for terrariums.
Species such as C. bahianus sp 'Cascade', and C. warasii will tolerate full sun, but the plants grow better in diffused light. Too much light causes bleaching, sunburn, or gives a leathery stressed look to the plants. Bright, diffused light is necessary to bring out maximum colour in most Cryptanthus.
Their root systems like a well drained soil with plenty of humus (like leaf litter) and they like the soil to be moist not tolerating periods of dryness very well.(in fact articles say it should be moist at all times)
Frost is enemy no.1 for these plants as they enjoy the warmth due to their subtropical to tropical origin. Enemy no.2 is the mealy bug. These can multiply in the dry soil under the flat broad leaf. Enemy no. 3 is Fungus. In an area where fungus is a problem use a good fungicide regularly. After any treatment, keep the plant in the shade for at least 4 to 24 hours. Then rinse it thoroughly, but do not place it in bright light until the leaves are completely dry.
Many articles mention growing these plants on the sunny side of overhanging trees, this will maximize warmth without direct sun and help guard against frost. Optimum temp. is16 to 29 deg c and many varieties enjoy high humidity which may be increased in the home or office with the use of humidifiers, frequent misting, capillary matting, placing the pots over water or grouping plants together. Cryp.make wonderful accent plants in well-lit bathrooms or above the kitchen sink where the humidity is generally high.
Larger Cryp. should not be under potted. A 130mm to 150mm pot will allow the root system plenty of room.
A rubber band is handy to hold pups in place until they root properly.
These are a few basic points. Do a bit of reading and research on these plants before you add them to your collection. Some would suggest these are not a beginners plant, however, I feel if you do your homework you should not shy away from these exotic gems. Purchase some cheaper ones and have a go with them.

Top pic – Cryp. bivittatus, Left middle pic-Cryp. elaine Bottom Right pic-Cryp. zonatus,

Aechmea (EEK-me-uh) by David Skimmings (a collection of points from many articles)

The genus name comes from the Greek “aichne”, meaning spear-like, a reference to the shape of the flower heads. Some plants have vertical flower spikes; others have long slender arching or even striking pendulous flower spikes.

The most popular bromeliad, besides the Pineapple, is Aechmea. They have been in cultivation since the early 1800's and the ease of growing this plant makes it a great choice for the beginner and novice alike. The first bromeliad I purchased that started my obsession was the Ae. fasciata

The genus is large at about 200 (depending on the article), the plants mostly have broad rosettes of arching leaves, and a few are tall and tubular like the billbergia. Aechmea not only has a very long lasting inflorescence (flower), but many varieties have very attractive and long lasting foliage (like the Ae. 'Samurai' above).

A lot of Aechmea are quite sun tolerate with a few that need a shaded environment. Most will grow well outdoors under 40% to 65% shade cloth.
The hard-leafed species are cold hardy and a few can take temperatures that are very cold with little or no damage. It’s still a good idea to protect the plants a little from the elements to maintain good colour in the foliage and inflorescences. Potting requirement are nothing special and the plants do well mounted, throwing out long stolons and clump into large colonies in a few years. It is because of this habit they can escape their pots quickly.
A lot of the genera have spines ranging from fine to almost vicious so long gloves are a must for this genus. Some plants grow up to 2-3 metres so a scrape up the neck is on the cards.
In the wild (i.e. the submontane forest) Ae. pectinata is pollinated by hummingbirds visiting flowers mainly in the morning. There is a positive correlation between the number of hummingbird visits per inflorescence and the production of nectar, suggesting that the availability of this resource is important in attracting and maintaining the visitors.
Getting started ---Ae. gamosepala variegated is commonly known as "Lucky Stripes" and is a very beautiful and hardy plant. --- Ae. "Shining Light" is a very stunning hybrid plant. It's long, soft looking leaves hide the robust growing characteristics. --- Ae. blanchetiana is a reasonably large and very eye catching species plant. These magnificent plants are ideal as single specimen feature displays.--- Ae. "Foster's Favorite" is an striking hybrid plant. It's very slender reddish leaves hide the tough growing and clustering characteristics.--- Ae. nudicaulis var. flavomarginata is a extremely hardy plant. The yellow edged green centred leaves are surprisingly strong and tough, with excellent growing characteristics and good tolerance to almost direct sunlight.--- Ae. fasciata is a very popular species plant. The silver coated olive green leaves are strong and tough, with good growing characteristics.

Removing pups - – put together by David Skimmings

Remove the plant from the pot and place on a work bench. If you have a special work area for this, good if not cover a table over with a tarp to protect it.
Tease the pups out away from the main base of the mother plant. For the pups that feel like they are going to come easy get your fingers around the base of the pup and take as much attached root as possible.
For the pups that feel like they need some more grunt use a flat blade, the flat of the closed secateurs etc to gently lever the pup away from the axis (stem, caudex). If you think the pup may have broken off a little high, don’t panic! Allow the pup to dry and calcify (for a couple of weeks) around the break sight. If the break was far too high the pup may not survive. For the first timers practice on one of the common varieties and you’ll soon get the hang of it.
Pups grow faster while attached to the mother plant than they do when separated. When separated from the mother plant, small pups grow more slowly than larger pups of the same plant. Fertilising the mother plant after she is finished blooming may encourage pup formation.
Pups of variegated plants are sometimes poorly or unevenly variegated or perhaps not variegated at all. As soon as it is clear that a pup does not have the desired variegation, it should be removed so that the reserves of the mother plant will go to the remaining pups. Be aware though, that variegation does not always show up in a very small pup and may only be perceptible after the pup has had time to grow.
Don’t throw away that prized plant when all the leaves have gone or have become tatty. The caudex or stem may still be able to produce new pups. Ross Smith just places the mother into a pot with no potting mix and places them under his plant bench out of the road.
If a pup quills (grows as a tight tube instead of flaring out) it may be best to remove it immediately and get new pups started, making sure the humidity is adequate and washing the new shoots with detergent if necessary in order to remove any secretions which dry up and cause the leaves to stick together.
Vriesea, guzmania, and green-leaved tillandsia pups often grow so close to the axis (stem, caudex) of the mother plant that separation is a difficult and risky process. However, when the pups are near mature size, they can be separated easily by pushing the pup downward and away from the point of attachment. A larger pup will come away cleanly and well callused so there is no danger of rot. No roots yet but they'll soon emerge after the pup is firmly potted.

Puya. Mt Tomah

By David Skimmings- a cluster of points from many articles.

On a trip to the Mt Tomah botanical gardens my wife and I were lucky enough to see a Puya berteronia in full flower which was very special considering how long it takes the plant to mature. I have never seem a flower the same colour (swallow egg blue) A wattle bird was feeding on it.

Unlike the epiphytes the extremely hardy Puyas have regular root systems that absorb soil nutrients. With 160 species, their area of abundance is in the Andean highlands; with some grow as much as 16,000 feet above sea level.
We think of bromeliads as a tropical family, but puyas can survive desert conditions and mountain snows. Puyas "are so tough they can be grown just about anywhere," writes Andrew Steens.

The P. berteronia are visited by Steller's jays and western scrub-jays they often come away with orange pollen marking their heads. Here in Australia this Puya was happily visited by our wattle birds, more flowers then they could poke a beak at. The birds allowed us to get very close to them mesmerised by the blossoms

The plants are Monocarpic (those that flower, set seeds and then die.) (The antonym is polycarpic; a plant that flowers and sets seeds many times during its lifetime.)

Puya raimondii, is known as Queen of the Andes, (shown below) This largest of all bromeliads it comes from Peru and Bolivia, where it's considered endangered. Found at an altitude of 3200 - 4800 m and discovered in 1870, the leaf rosette grows 10 feet, and the flower stalk, another 30 feet. Andean hummingbirds (as below) feed at its greenish-white flowers. The flower inflorescence has more than 3000 flowers and 6,000,000 seeds. Its biological cycle is approximately 40 years.

Puya raimondii, might be a bit much for the average garden, with it’s size and prickerly personality but its smaller relatives are worth considering eg P. mirabilis, P. laxa, P. glomerifera

Puya alpestris, known in the horticultural trade as Sapphire Tower, is native to Chile, where it is pollinated by large moths and songbirds. It's one of only two plant species known to have blue nectar.

What’s a trichome - other than greyness.by David Skimmings. Points off the net

I believe the ability of various bromeliad group to grow in so many different natural environments is partly due to there fascinating characteristic of absorbing water and nutrient through the leaf surface, through their trichomes.

Q. What is a trichome

A. A modified leaf hair, a minute multicellular structure with an unparalleled capacity to absorb water and nutrients.

All Broms have them; they are more advanced in some broms.
The little disc allows water in and closes to trap it as needed, thus preventing it from drying out.
The water then travels into the plants cells.
trichomes (TRIH-combs), a word derived from Greek "hairy" and indeed, the trichomes we are most familiar with are the ones which give plants a downy or furry appearance.
Many other types of plants which grow under hot, arid conditions are covered with "hair" which protects against the glare of the sun, shelters against drying out in the wind
Stinging nettle under the slightest pressure have the tips of its stiff trichomes break off, forming virtual hypodermic needles which inject the hapless intruder with its "venom."

Trichomes can be utilized to help some other species of plants to climb.
The Tillandsia trichome shields lie fairly flat against the epidermis so that the leaf is smooth, perhaps slightly velvety like Tillandsia xerographica.
Not only does each bromeliad have its own unique trichomes, the trichomes on the upper (adaxial) side of the leaf are different from those on the lower (abaxial) side of the leaf. If the shield edges turn up, the leaf surface will be rough as in Tillandsia ionantha. The disc may be more fully developed on one side, producing a fuzzy surface (T. crocata). The extreme is the hair-like extensions on the trichomes of T. tectorum.

The trichomes have two important functions: to protect the plant from too much sun and to acquire and conserve moisture. Tillandsia (and other bromeliads) which grow in a shady, humid environment have fewer trichomes than those exposed to full sun, and are green. Depending on the amount of sun exposure to which they have adapted, the density and extensions of the trichomes cause the leaves to appear grey, silver, or white The cells of the extensions are hollow, so that they reflect light (up to 45%) and form a good insulating barrier. When the leaf is wet, the cells fill with water and reflect very little light; the leaf appears green. The trichomes channel water very quickly through the stalk cells into the leaf interior but prevent water (water vapor) from escaping. With good air circulation the trichomes quickly dry out again and the plant regains its normal grey to silver luster.

Even though these pictures here show Tillandsia which have very good examples of trichomes you can visually see trichomes on many other Bromeliads.

So there it is, some times a scientific read can be a bit heavy going for some so hopefully these condensed points has enlighten you to something, I find fascinating.?

T. tectorum

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Aechmea orlandiana

Who is Margaret Mee – put together by David Skimmings

Margaret Ursula Mee (1909 Chesham Buckinghamshire , England - 1988, England), was a botanical artist who specialised in plants from the Brazilian Amazon rainforest.
Her first tuition was at Dr Challoner's Grammar School. She studied art at St. Martin's School of Art, the Centre School of Art, and the Camberwell School of Art in London, England, where she met her future husband, Greville Mee, and received a national diploma in painting and design in 1950.
She moved to Brazil with Greville, her second husband, in 1952 to teach art in the British school of São Paulo. She then became a botanical artist for São Paulo's Instituto de Botanica in 1958, exploring the Brazilian jungles on numerous expeditions between 1958 and 1964 before concentrating on the Amazonas from 1964 to 1988. She collected plants and painted others on-the-spot.
She created 400 folios of gouache illustrations, 40 sketchbooks and 15 diaries.
Mee died in England in 1988 in a car crash. In her honor, the Margaret Mee Amazon Trust was founded to further education and research in Amazonian plant life and conservation by providing scholarships for Brazilian botanical students and plant illustrators who wish to study in the United Kingdom or conduct field research in Brazil.
Her expeditions into the Amazonian rainforests cover a period of 32 years. Her excitement and passion for the Amazon is clearly evident in her lyrical and articulate notes. Several maps show the routes of her journeys and work sites quite precisely, but the focus of the book is on her detailed diaries kept between 1956 and 1988. The entertaining text is enlivened by drawings, paintings and photographs.
Headstrong Margaret, always known by her pet-name, Peggy soon broke away from the family ways and left to live in London. It must be remembered that in the late 1920's that was not the convention. Peggy's talent as an artist had surfaced at a very early age but in the 1930's she put aside her palette and like many young people she turned to politics.
Her first marriage was to Reg Bartlett a well liked Trades Union member and communist. Peggy was no simple camp follower. She had joined the British Communist Party too and was already making her mark. One colleague recalls 'she was the only person I know who wore high heels and make-up to a demo. She was a good speaker and passionate ....always so very passionate about those things she believed in'.
These points are just a very brief snapshot of a woman that went through her life with a passion to do what she wanted to do; her expeditions in to the Amazonian jungles are a testimony of her tenacity. I hope this inspires you to read some of the memoires as the flora and fauna are seen through the eyes of someone that has witnessed it first hand and seen plants for the first time in the unspoilt wilderness.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Mee

http://www.southamericanpictures.com/features/feat2/mee.htm

http://www.squidoo.com/margaret-mee

aechmea orlandiana ensign

Who is Edouard Andre – put together by David Skimmings off the net - added 30.6.18

Edouard Francois Andre was a French collector/explorer whose many discoveries of bromeliads in the Cordilleras of South America would be influential on horticulturists to follow.
Édouard André during the expedition (by Émile Bayard)
Born into a family of nurserymen in Bourges, Édouard André assisted Jean-Pierre Barillet-Deschamps in 1860, at the age of twenty, and participated in the redesign of the city of Paris in cooperation with Adolphe Alphand and Baron Haussmann.
Eventually he was appointed Head Gardener (Jardinier Principal) of Paris. During eight years of public service he designed and planted many public spaces, including the Parc des Buttes Chaumont and Tuileries Gardens.
His international career was launched in 1866, when he won the competition to design Sefton Park in Liverpool. During his life André designed around a hundred public and private landscape parks, mainly in Europe: the Russian Empire, Austria-Hungary, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Denmark and Bulgaria.
These parks have many distinctive features used by André in his parks: harmonious placement and pleasing arrangement of artificial grottoes, waterfalls, mountain-style stone structures, employment of natural water bodies and panoramas.
He undertook a botanising trip in the foothills of the Andes in 1875-76 that resulted in the introduction of numerous hardy and tender plants new to European cultivation; his researches resulted in a volume on bromeliads, Bromeliaceae Andreanae. Description et Histoire des Bromeliacées récoltées dans la Colombie, l'Ecuador et la Venezuela, Librairie Agricole, Paris, 1889.
Victoria Padilla, co-founder of the Bromeliad Society (CA) quoted "Over a century has passed since Edouard Francois Andre left his native France to embark on his memorable voyage to the then little known Cordilleras of South America. Little did he realise when he set out on this trip, which covered Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela, the impact that his many discoveries would have on following horticulturists. Although a number of plant explorers had preceded him, most notably Humboldt and Bonpland, it was he who showed what great floral wealth, especially in bromeliads, lay in these South American highlands; and it was he who was to serve as the source of inspiration to the many bromeliad collectors of the twentieth century - Mulford B. Foster and Lyman B. Smith of the United States and Werner Rauh of Germany in particular."

http://www.charlies-web.com/publications/txtx100r.html

Bromeliaceae Andreanae
translated and annotated by Michael Rothenberg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bromeliaceae

Rat attack – By David Skimmings - added 30.6.18

At Lorn Maitland our yard is often visited by rats. I have plenty of bait stations in my shed, under the house and in the roof. Whilst it’s common for rodents to hang around bird aviaries ( which I have) we can often get an influx of rats when the Hunter River runs high and the river rats are forced to hunt elsewhere i.e. the nearby suburb. Anyway “ Que sera sera”

The first going's on

I carefully potted up 2 tomato plants in a large pot to grow some cherry tomatoes; my father in-law does this quite successfully. They quickly doubled in size and were going great guns. One morning I came out and they looked like they had been smashed with a wipper snipper. I passed this off as birds much to my disappointment. They recovered after 2 weeks only to be destroyed again (even worse)

While I was on holidays over the Christmas break I did a full 3 days in the yard. I started to notice some of miniature neos were dying or missing. I thought that the water system needed some work and maybe they weren’t getting enough water. I was putting in a extra watering system anyway as I was away for a few weeks and the house and yard was being looked after by my nephew. As I worked away I notice a lot of plant litter on the ground under different hanging pot plants. Finally the “penny dropped” and it dawned on me that they had been chewed off. The plants weren’t all papery liked you’d expect. I brought some different type of bait and restocked the bait stations; a pest controller told me you have to regularly do this to kill rodents properly. Finally I found a large Billbergia hanging on by a tread and the other ones with distinctive rat gnaw marks. The more I looked around the collection the more damage I found. I estimate conservatively I had lot more than 50 plants.

Mounted plants were chewed and hunging, Potted Broms were chewed right off and some hanging planted missing altogether.

So in conclusion pick up on the signs early, rats like to eat the new growth, young pups and the juicey bromeliad butts.The sugar is in the plants Cortex

Bromeliads in Full Sun? Tips for Landscape Planting by David Skimmings ( some information from the internet)

A lot of Aechmea are quite sun tolerate with a few that need a shaded environment. Most will grow well outdoors under 40% to 65% shade cloth.

A lot of the genera have spines ranging from fine to almost vicious so long gloves are a must for this genus. Some plants grow up to 2-3 metres so a scrape up the neck is on the cards.

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