NEWS East London LETTER

March Bromeliad Society 2012

South Africa Established: 25 July 2009

Our aim is to promote and encourage awareness and interest in Bromeliads in East London and all of South Africa!

ELBS is an Affiliated Society of Bromeliad Society International

Aechmea

Member of the subfamily of Bromelioideae. A large found throughout Central and South America in a huge range of habitats. A very diverse family with size ranging from about 1.5 metres tall to about 30cm with many having attractive foliage in various colours with barring and spots, and some being heavily spined (thorny). The flowers of most varieties are long lasting with many producing berries after flowering. The majority gamosepala (pink and white are easy growers. inflorescence) Top left: Aechmea The spiny stiff leaved varieties require sunny bocanensis. Bottom right: Aechmea. positions eg. the many Aechmea nudicaulis Apocalyptica. forms and the soft leafed Aechmea eg. Aechmea setigera . Requires a sunny position. gamosepala and weilbachii do well in semi- shade. Some varieties do well mounted. Examples are the beautiful cultivars of Aechmea orlandiana and Aechmea chantinii . Some grow as saxicoles, meaning they grow on, over or between rocks. Some are cold intolerant eg. the beautiful Aechmea chantinii varieties, which do not like Aechmea ‘Silver Streak’ a nudicaulis Aechmea weilbachii variety leodensis . Note their feet to be wet and cold in the winter so cultivar. Good for mounting. the discolour leaves, nice for shade. they would be far happier mounted with good air circulation and no wet cold soil round their roots. Aechmea fasciata i s probably the best known and Aechmea fasciatta Aechmea orlandiana pink Aechmea chantinii dark wide found in most leaf Skotak

Our next meeting: 29th April 2012 at 2.30pm. Garden visit at Andre Eybers home, 28 Kersboom Crescent, Bonza Bay. Please bring your picnic goodies. See you there!

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collections. It does very well mounted on trees or driftwood. The flowers are beautiful and long lasting. Aechmea grown in pots must not be potted too deeply and the soil must be free draining which applies to all bromeliads. Aechmeas pup easily and they can be grown as clumps or separated when they are about half to two Aechmea ‘Black Panther’ has thirds the size of the mother plant. beautiful dark leaves. Aechmea orlandiana Aechmea ‘ Romero’ Removing pups from the mother plant will speed up the process of the mother producing more pups. Which is wonderful if you have the space for them! Have fun with your Aechmeas ! Try mounting a few on your trees or place a few between some rocks Aechmea recurvata Aechmea ‘ Chocolate’ Aechmea ‘Pickaninny x and see how spectacular they will ‘Artichoke’ . A small hybrid for a White Knight’ look! sunny position.

Bromeliad Basics for Beginners

Pete Pfister was the speaker for our first Bromeliad Basics for Beginners slot of the meeting. We are sure these talks will be of interest to many of our members from beginner enthusiasts to those who have been besotted with broms for many years.

There are about 3000 which originate from the tropical North and South America. These make up about 56 genera (family varieties). A few examples being Tillandsia (air plant), Cryptanthus (earth star), Neoregelia and Vriesea. More than 1500 of these species are epiphytes which means they grow on trees. Those that grow in the ground are referred to as terrestrials and those that grow on rocks are referred to as saxicoles. Bromeliads are not parasites and use their host tree or rock for support only.

The most common growth form of a bromeliad is a stemless rosette shape. Some have spectacular coloured foliage and some have spectacular inflorescences (flowers).

Pete went on to discuss the correct way to write a bromeliad’s name. Let's start with Aechmea fasciata . A genus for example, Aechmea, always starts with a capital letter and the word must be written in italics. If the aechmea variety is a species then the specie name is also in italics but it is all in lower case letters, if the aechmea type is a hybrid then the hybrid name is in single commas and lower case letters.

Examples of species: Aechmea fasciata Aechmea gamosepala, Tillandsia bulbosa

Examples of hybrids: Aechmea 'Ensign' Neoregelia 'Amazing Grace' Tillandsia 'Nidus'

March Meeting and News

There were 18 members at the meeting plus four visitors, Diana and Peter Castle, Eleanor Tidbury and Sheila Gerretsen.

A big thank you to Billy Gerretsen who presented an interesting talk all about Aechmeas. He also briefly introduced the group to his other passion, undersea coral.

Many thanks to Dudley and Albie Reynolds who hosted the meeting at their Dudley in his garden surrounded by some of his Tillandsias and on the right, some of his stunning neoregelias.

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Beacon Bay home. Members all appeared to enjoy the meeting and exploring Dudley’s interesting garden which includes, besides bromeliads, a fascinating collection of succulents and orchids.

Thanks

• Norma Hart and Larraine Parathyras for providing scrumptious goodies for Mary and Leon Naude enjoyed Norma Hart admiring some of Dudley’s tea. exploring Dudley’s interesting garden. Ananas varieties. • Thank you to Miriam Kennard for donating a heap of green peppers and Pete Pfister for a number of a small variety of Cryptanthus for members to choose from. Both donations were welcomed by the members!

Member News:

• We welcome new country members, Annatjie Myburgh, who lives in White River, Howard and Stephen Eades from Uvongo, Carolie Pouwels from Pretoria, Graham Watts from Durban, George Moss from Elsburg and Fransie Rademeyer from Napier. Happy bromming to you all! • Rose Sutton’s adventure starts on the 23rd of this month when she flies to England to be a Care Giver. Rose's sister will be going too. We will miss you and wish you good luck and safe travels. We look forward to seeing Rose when she returns home for her first visit in 4 month's time.

Tea Duty:

April: Mary and Leon Naude and Maureen Bakkes May: David Flint and Dudley and Albie Reynolds

Please sms Albie on 083 980 6102 if you have any queries or are unable to provide eats when you are on duty.

Please remember to pay Albie R5.00 if you are going to have tea and cake after the meeting.

Raffle Winners for March

Raffle tickets can be bought from Tamara Hartwanger at the meeting. Country members might like to buy raffle tickets, your winning bromeliad will be posted to you. As from April we will have four lucky draws, two country winners and two local winners. Of course the more raffle tickets you buy the better your chances of winning. We have a Lucky Draw at the meetings too, but only members who are present qualify for this draw! Aechmea orlandiana Congratulations to our March Winners: Danie Conradie with his Lucky Draw winners Tillandsia streptophylla. • Norma Hart won jams and chocolates • Billy Gerretsen won Aechmea orlandiana

Raffle Winners • Danie Conradie chose Tillandsia streptophylla • Mariette Scholtz from Somerset West chose Neoregelia ‘Grande cv Fantastic Gardens’ • Country member Craig Nicholas from Link Hills, Durban, chose Dyckia ‘Silver Queen’ Neoregelia ‘Grande cv Fantastic Dyckia ‘Silver Queen’ Gardens’ Notes From the Committee

• It has been suggested that we start the meetings at 2.00 pm, especially when it is being hosted by a member and not at Bromeliads for Africa, this would give members ample opportunity to wander around

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the garden before the meeting starts or afterwards. How do members feel about ELBS Library a 2.00 pm start? We will discuss it and ask Book Review - Brenda Wegner for feedback at the next meeting. • Anyone with ideas for the Open Day Bromeliad Cultivation Notes by Lynn Hudson discussion groups or willing to host one of the talks or demonstrations, please let the Lynn and Bob live in Edge Hill, North Queensland. Bob committee know. specializes in Tillandsias and has been growing since 1979. • Would you consider hosting a meeting at Lyn has been growing all other genera since 1999.

your home? It is a wonderful opportunity Bromeliad Cultivation Notes consists of 39 pages of to get ideas and get free advice. Let Lyn know. interesting reading covering 39 topics ranging from bromeliad parts to tissue culture. It is written simply which makes it easy for beginners to understand and also for the Upcoming Society Events ardent bromeliad enthusiast wanting some quick and easy information. • 29th March: Garden visit and meeting to be hosted by Andre Eybers and Maureen Library books are Bakkes at 28 Kersboom Crescent, Bonza available at the Bay, East London. meetings and can be Topic: Andre will tell us about his taken out on loan for a experiences with bromeliads. Maureen will month at a time. New present Bromeliad Basics for Beginners. books and publications Members please bring your mug and are being added from spoon, everything else will be supplied. Also time to time. bring your for Show and Tell. Any queries, contact Brenda Wegner: Bob Hudson, Lyn Wegner, Brenda Wegner and Lyn Hudson at the 2010 World Bromeliad • 27th May: Any volunteers to host this 082 743 2141 meeting? Conference in New Orleans.

• 24th June: To be hosted by Brian and Bridget Kroger, more information next month.

• Date to remember: Our Annual Open Day Sunday, 15th July at Bromeliads for Africa. An opportunity to promote the society, our activities and BROMELIADS to the public.

 Upcoming International Events!

24th September to 1st October 2012: 20 th World Bromeliad Conference, Orlandiana 2012, to be held in Orlando, Florida, USA. So far 4 South Africans (3 being members of our society) are going to this conference, Lyn and Trevor Wegner and Adrian van Rensen from Pretoria.

15th - 18th March 2013: Cool Broms Auckland (New Zealand). ). To date, 9 of our members have registered. If you would like more information regarding these conferences, contact Lyn Wegner.

Member’s Corner

Some Cycad enthusiasts visited Bromeliads for Africa on Saturday 31st March. East London Bromeliad Society members Dudley, Pete, Andre, Maureen and Lyn spent a hectic afternoon with the visitors from the Cycad Society who were on a tour of areas in the Eastern Cape. They included ELBS country members John and Maryna Kloppers. George Moss was one of the seven in the Cycad Group and we are pleased he decided to become a member of ELBS too! Some ELBS members present when John and Maryna Kloppers and the cycad enthusiasts visited. George Moss. John is Chairman of the Central Branch of the Cycad

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From Howard and Stephen Eades, country members from Uvingo, KZN: Do you know of anyone who has and is willing to sell us an Ochagavia litoralis ? What a stunner! (as spotted in the April San Diego Bromeliad Blade, original article ex the February 2012 New Zealand Journal - ‘Re-discovering Ochagavia’) Contact Howard and Stephen on: 082 731 648.

Lyn is making enquiries about importing this beauty, but it doesn’t look hopeful.

You can view most of all the bromeliads mentioned in meetings or in the newsletter at the website fcbs.org (Florida Council of Bromeliad Societies).

Editor’s Corner

I really missed not being at the March meeting, but we were thinking of all of you while we were in Thailand. We saw a few bromeliads on our travels, mostly guzmanias, but orchids grow everywhere, seemingly with no care at all. We passed many small nurseries while hurtling along in the craziest traffic I have ever known, yet everyone is very courteous on the road! We spotted bromeliads in a few of them, from the road, but there was no time to visit one. We saw some really exotic and beautiful plants, so, besides exploring and absorbing the Thai culture, the way everything just grows in the heat and humidity, made us very envious. Even most of the rural, most humble of homes had their pot plants outside, which nearly always included the beautiful lotus plants, planted in a large pot of water, like a lily pond.

It was good to arrive home and find that all of a sudden autumn has arrived, which will be a relief to some, after the unbelievable humidity we have experienced this summer. In our garden, Eddie is very chuffed with his Guzmania monostachia that shot up while we were gone. Every year around this time I am always impressed with the luminescent beauty of Billbergia pyramidalis . We tend to take them for granted but they always provide a magnificent show when planted in a group, albeit very short lived. Don’t overlook the spectacular Guzmania monostachia Billbergia pyramidalis putting on its variegated. autumn show. A reminder to you all to let us know what is happening in your garden, bring it to the meeting for ‘Show and Tell’, or send in a photo to myself or to Lyn. Especially to our country members, send us photos of anything exciting happening in your garden, it will be good to share your passion and how bromeliads are growing in other parts of South Africa.

Looking forward to seeing you all at the next meeting. Happy Bromming!

Committee Members: Chairman Dudley Reynolds 079 488 2360 Secretary Lyn Wegner 043 736 1737 082 970 2293 [email protected] Treasurer Andre Eybers 043 748 2254 082 572 2448 [email protected] Member Billy Gerretsen 043 731 1373 083 455 4600 [email protected] Member Dr Peter Pfister 043 748 1317 082 625 5533 [email protected] Librarian Brenda Wegner 043 705 7021 082 743 2141 [email protected] Editor Barbara Black 043 7212775 072 1787 421 [email protected] Catering Albie Reynolds 083980 6102 • Newsletter Contributors: Lyn Wegner, Brenda Wegner • Photo Credits: Lyn Wegner, Barbara Black, San Diego Bromeliad Blade, FCBS

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