Bromeliad Society of Victoria Inc. VOL 34 NO 4 August – September 2017
The August General Meeting will be held on Wednesday
23rd August, in the Multi-purpose Room at Phoenix Park.
Details Page 6
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CONTENTS 2017 Calendar of Events ................................................................................................2
Editorial ..........................................................................................................................3
BSV President’s Report ..................................................................................................4
August Bromeliad Sale Day ............................................................................................5
General Meetings...........................................................................................................5
Report of the June General Meeting .............................................................................7
Future Conferences........................................................................................................8
Discussion Group Meetings ...........................................................................................9
Mounting Bromeliads ..................................................................................................10
Preparing Your Plants for the Show Bench and for Sale ..............................................11
September Field Day ....................................................................................................12
Goudaea – Plants We Know, Now With A New Name .................................................13
2017 CALENDAR OF EVENTS 23 August General Meeting 24 September Field Day - The Bakers’ at Brighton 25 October General Meeting 11-12 November Annual Show - Moorabbin 13 December Christmas Meeting
COVER: Vriesea ‘Forrest’ Bruce Lee
Photo, Jill Abbott
BSV Inc. Contacts MAIL PO Box 101, Darling VIC 3145 FACEBOOK https://www.facebook.com/groups/198663673628029/ WEBSITE http://bromeliad.org.au/ then, CLUB NEWS, Victoria EMAIL [email protected]
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EDITORIAL Back in June, I thought we were going to have a mild winter, but as usual Melbourne had a few surprises in store for us. Brian and I went to Europe and the Arctic in June, and on arriving home in July were a bit shocked to land in Melbourne to 0
oC – even the Arctic
was warmer than this!
Many of us have suffered frost damage (our plants) and will find out in the next few months whether it was fatal or if the new growth will improve the broms’ appearances.
Our Annual Show is on November 11 & 12 at a new venue, the N G Wishart Senior Citizens Centre, 964 Nepean Highway, Moorabbin. Information about the show is attached separately.
Please send me your contributions for ‘From a Member’s Garden’, as members love to see and hear how your broms are going, and any other articles, large or small, to share with BSV members. It may be a single brom, a collection, or your latest brom-related construction project.
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 : [email protected]
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BSV PRESIDENT’S REPORT
Hi Members, Another icy morning this morning and I thought we were past that for this winter. The cold has caused quite a lot of damage in my garden this year with numerous frosts that
have denuded plants of their foliage and caused a lot of leaf damage on many of my bromeliads. The picture shows severe frost damage to this Alcantarea ‘Wynabeel’. Most of these plants will come back in time although they will look pretty ugly for quite a while. It really makes you appreciate those broms that can take Melbourne’s extreme conditions and still look presentable. I also admire those dedicated growers who go to great lengths to protect their collections when adverse weather conditions are predicted. Covering them with sheets or plastic is certainly quite common but some members move susceptible plants under cover for the duration of the danger period or get up before dawn on frosty mornings to spray their gardens to stop the frost from settling. There was no July Field Day this year but we were able to help out an ex-member of the BSV to find new homes for his bromeliad collection. Leo Costanzo was an active BSV member up until 2014 and has continued to maintain an interest in bromeliads. However, he has to move house and has nowhere to keep bromeliads until he has more permanent accommodation so he has decided to sell off his collection. To help Leo we arranged to have a Sunday open afternoon at his place in Mordialloc where he could benefit from seeing his plants go to good homes and members could take home a bargain or three. At our June BSV meeting Chris Larson continued his series of talks on the changing names of certain bromeliads within particular genera. This time it was in relation to the segregation of the genus Orthophytum into two strains. Chris used live specimens, pictures and verbal descriptions of the changing classification of Orthophytums, making the presentation both educational and entertaining. Thanks Chris for a most enjoyable talk. The next meeting is on Wednesday, 23rd August and we will be talking about the BSV November Show and how members can get involved. This is our major showcase for the year and the more members who participate the easier it will be for everyone.
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Displaying and selling bromeliads is a very good way to get involved and a chance to compare your plants to those of other members. We have had to find new accommodation for our show materials that were stored in the caretakers’ office at Phoenix Park. Fortunately, Nance Esmore offered her store room as a temporary option and Rob McLure offered to transport the materials to Nance’s place. We are very fortunate to have members that are so willing and able to help in a time of need. Much appreciated Nance and Rob, thank you very much. Don’t forget to bring something to share for supper at the August meeting and something for the display and sales tables. Hope to see you there.
Bruce Lee _____________________________________________________________________
AUGUST BROMELIAD SALE DAY A number of members had an afternoon of shopping for broms at Leo Constanzo’s
place, taking home an interesting collection of goodies.
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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 2017-2018
Position Name Email Phone President Bruce Lee [email protected] 9726 6126 Vice President Chris Larson [email protected] 9568 8856 Secretary Kerry Lusk [email protected] 0438 798 568 Treasurer Chris Baker [email protected] 9596 1992
General committee Jill Abbott [email protected] 0400 921 374
Robert Mather [email protected] 0431 968 358
Len Murray [email protected] 0413 809 744
Mike Raymond [email protected] 0411 283 369
Non-committee Positions Membership Jane Baker 9596 1992
Secretary: [email protected]
90A Martin Street, Brighton VIC 3186 Librarian: Gayle Kerr
Plant Vote: Bev Leishman Plant Sales: Bryan Paten
Supper Coordinator Rochelle Gaugg
Patron: Maurice Kellett Life Members: Nance Esmore, Chris Larson, Jean Nicol, Len Summers, Garry Thompson Editor: Jill Abbott [email protected] Production: Brian Abbott
Deadline for all editorial and advertising is the first Tuesday of publication month.
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REPORT OF THE JUNE GENERAL MEETING held at the Phoenix Park Community Centre on Wednesday 26th June 2017
There was a reasonable turnout for a meeting in the middle of the cold winter. Chris Larson gave a presentation on the newly resurrected genus Sincoraea. This genus has been taken back out of the genus Orthophytum with which it was merged in 1955. There are obvious differences between the 2 groups of plants, and the illustrative photos made it very easy to understand. This genus contains some truly beautiful plants. We hope that these plants become more prevalent in collections. A full report on this talk should be in the next newsletter.
RESULTS OF THE POPULAR VOTE TILLANDSIAS: A 3 way tie of plants grown by Chris Larson: 1. T.species. A plant bought as T.fasciculata var densispica. This plant is a silver rosette measuring 45cm across with red tinged green bracts. While it is not fitting with T.fasculata var densispica, we do not know what it is.
2. T.’Dimmit’s Talent’. T.rothii X T.concolor. Taking the best of both the parents this plant is stiff leaved, and the foliage can turn red – but in this case the winter Melbourne light conditions doesn’t cause that effect at this time. Still a very impressive plant. 3 T.aff cajamarcensis. This is a very interesting plant collected by Michael Romanowski in Peru. It was originally thought to be
Tillandsia (Vriesea) harmsiana, but it appears to be related more closely to T.cajamarcensis.
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INDOOR/GLASSHOUSE GROWN: Aechmea ‘White Bouquet’. A lovely hybrid by Maurice Kellett using Aechmea fasciata var purpurea. This is a very hardy plant with a lovely inflorescence grown by Geoff Beech (photo, left) OUTDOOR/SHADEHOUSE GROWN: Aechmea orlandiana ‘Ensign’ won this section, grown by Geoff Beech.
NOVICE: no entries, but we hope for some at the August meeting.
ARRANGEMENT: We hope that the nicer weather will entice members to enter this section in August
Happy Growing, Chris Larson
_____________________________________________________________________
FUTURE CONFERENCES
Hosted by the Gold Coast Succulent & Bromeliad Society Inc at the Sea World Resort
on the Gold Coast
For contact information and registration, go to the conference website at www.goldenbroms.com
________________________
2021 Conference in Auckland
Once again, we have secured the Waipuna Hotel & Conference Centre, which is a great venue in Central-South Auckland with accommodation on-site. At this stage the date will be April 8-11
th 2021, which is the weekend after Easter.
Graeme Barclay Vice President BSNZ Conference Convenor 2021
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DISCUSSION GROUP MEETINGS The Discussion Group will meet Wednesday 16 August, 2017 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 (9568 8856) or Len (9569 7936) 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
th September, 18
th October, and 15th
November
Aechmea coelensis var albomarginate Geoff Beech
Aechmea ‘Foster’s Favorite Favorite Rob Mather
Vriesesa ‘Rosita’ Chris Larson
Neoregelia ‘Soul’ Bruce Lee
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MOUNTING BROMELIADS Bryan Paten (reprinted from BSV Vol29No4)
When mounting bromeliads on logs or bark try to replicate the way they grow in nature. Suitable materials for mounting include slabs of cork, tree fern, or tree trunk, Mallee root or thick branches of hardwood trees. Note: Green wood branches will last a lot longer than old, dead wood branches. Branches can be hung horizontally, or placed upright with bromeliads nestled into the branch axils. Cup hooks, wire loops or strong fishing line can be used to suspend your creation.
A natural look is obtained by placing the smaller plants at the top, and working down, choosing a variety of colours and patterns to add interest. Plants should be firmly attached in the axils with old pantihose strips (or fishing line or plastic-covered wire) preferably with bush moss, or sphagnum moss, placed underneath the base of the bromeliad and around the pantihose. This adds to the visual appeal of the plant and helps to retain moisture and encourage root growth. In nature, seeds and even pups would fall from the higher mother plant and lodge in the axils where they would develop roots for attachment. Pantihose is preferable to fishing line or wire, as it has some ‘give’ and it is easier to provide the tension to hold the plant in place without cutting into the base. Bush moss has better colour, but it is harder to obtain than sphagnum moss. Paperbark is an alternative to moss.
Ideally, an odd number of plants should be attached to your branch, and handfuls of Spanish Moss (Tillandsia usneoides) can be added for effect. You may need to keep replacing this when birds steal the moss to line their nests. A workshop vice is an excellent way to hold your branch while you are attaching the plants.
Over time, as new pups form and alter the appearance of your vertical bromeliad sculpture, you might prefer to remove the pups, or leave them and remove the larger mother plant. A large horizontal, planted log also looks fabulous.
A hanging garden of Tillandsias can be easily made by drilling holes through a log to thread fine strips of pantihose through. Small Tillandsias can also be attached with PVA glue, liquid nails or hot glue, although this may come off after a while. Large pieces of Mallee root have naturally occurring holes ideal for planting into. Drift wood is also an attractive alternative but needs soaking to remove the sea salt.
Old orchid bark works well as a potting medium for bromeliads. When potting up pups, on top of the potting medium, semicircular chunks of polystyrene around his plant, to support it until it has developed a stable root system. The polystyrene can then be discarded. When labelling branch gardens or tree fern slabs, it gives a better, more natural appearance, if labels are hidden at the back.
Graham Allen helping
Bryan with his creation
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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.
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.
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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, Vol33, No.3 Notes were written by Bev Peacock from the April 2010 General Meeting talk. _____________________________________________________________________
SEPTEMBER FIELD DAY The September Field Day will be held at the home of Chris and Jane Baker on Sunday 24 September from 1 to 4 pm.
The address is 90A Martin Street, Brighton Melway 67 F7 Phone 9596 1992
The Bakers’ garden is full of lush growth and has many surprises for visitors including some wonderfully quirky features. Tea and coffee will be provided. Please bring some food to share. You may want to bring a chair.
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GOUDAEA – PLANTS WE KNOW, NOW WITH A NEW NAME Chris Larson Some of us with long memories will know of a plant that came into Australia over 30 years ago called Vriesea ‘Espirito Santo’ – I’m not sure how a Colombian plant was named after a Brazilian locality, though there may be some place in Colombia with this name. It circulated for a number of years until it was described by Harry Luther in 1983 as V.ospinae. It became popular here, though it was never easy to grow in Melbourne, it would thrive if given the right conditions – cold, but with just the right amount of protection.
Subsequently, we came across a plant by the name of Vriesea chrysostachys available in the northern states, though this one was very difficult to cultivate in Melbourne. The link between the two species was obvious, with regard to the inflorescence. V.chrysostachys comes from Trinidad, Colombia, and Peru, and was originally described in 1886. Many of us tried to grow V.chrysostachys, but not many have succeeded without heat. There are different bract colours, yellow, orange and red, with flowers being mainly yellow. There were 2 varieties, Vriesea chrysostachys var chrysostachys, and a smaller form V.chrysostachys var stenophylla.
Vriesea ospinae Photos, Chris Larson
(above and right)
Goudaea chrysostachys var chrysostachys Photo, Eric Gouda
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In 1992, a plant called Vriesea ospinae var gruberi was imported into Australia. It was discovered in Colombia a couple of years earlier. There have been many forms of this species cultivated, with names such as V.’Tiger Tim’, V.’Smudge Grub’, V.Euro Smudge, and others. There are some very lovely forms – and they are easier to cultivate than V.ospinae var ospinae. As with many of the new genera which are currently being described, or resurrected, the concept of the differences with the other plants from which they have been separated are easy to see. The new genus is named after Eric Gouda. Eric is a bromeliad taxonomist from the Netherlands, with the University of Utrecht. He co-runs the
Goudaea chrysostachys v chrysostachys Photos, Chris Larson (above left), Thorsten Kromer (above right)
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web-site Brom-L (http://botu07.bio.uu.nl/brom-l/) which is where you can access the Taxon List as well as the Encyclopedia of Bromeliads Project. He is also the Webmaster for the Bromeliad Society International. There are a number of cultivars, some of which have not yet been transferred on the BCR to the new genus.
Further reading: There is an excellent article on Goudaea ospinae in the wild in the Journal of The Bromeliad Society International, Inc. Volume 66 (2): 65-128 (April-June, 2016)
Goudaea ospinae var gruberi ‘Tiger Tim’ Photos, Peter Tristram (above), Ken Marks (right)
Goudaea ‘Smudge Grub’ (above left) Goudaea ‘Euro Smudge’ (above)
Goudaea ‘Santa Maria’ (left) Photos, Peter Tristram
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MEMBERSHIP 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.
All subscription correspondence should be sent to: The Membership Secretary, Jane Baker, 90A Martin Street, Brighton VIC 3186 PLEASE NOTE THAT PAYMENT OF MEMBERSHIP SUBSCRIPTION CAN 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: [email protected] 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.
