NEWS East London LETTER Bromeliad Society March 2018 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 A visit to Ester’s farm garden! What a splendid venue for our February meeting!! Many thanks to Esther Botha, a brand new member of the society who hosted 28 members and 8 visitors at her lush coastal farm, Adelsicht on the Schafli Road 19km from East London. Ester has created a wonderful farm garden in only six years, spreading all around the house creating a sheltered spot for the house and wedding venue, The Vineyard Guest Lodge. The work of a courageous lady. She loves planting and creating gardens, there are lovely areas of groupings of plants including all sorts of shrubs, agapanthus, cycads and aloes under large trees and even a nook with bonsai Ester at the entrance to Vineyard Guest and of course bromeliads!!! Lodge and Wedding Venue with lovely Together with her late gardens on either side. husband, they planned and planted the vineyard, hoping to one day try and make some wine. It is a living memory to a husband with whom Ester shared the planning and building of everything that is on the farm which they bought on the internet without seeing it first! In the front, there are lovely iceberg roses around a fountain to greet visitors to the The Vinyard Wedding Venue which she has successfully got off the ground. We held our meeting in the main ‘hall’ of the venue which has stunning views all the way Next Meeting: Sunday 25th March at 2 for 2.30pm. Hosted by Miriam Kennard at 43 Grace Crescent Beacon Bay. Don’t forget to bring your chair if you want a seat. East London Bromeliad Society South Africa March 2018 Page 1 to the sea, overlooking a typical Eastern Cape coastal landscape. In the paddock there are goats and donkeys, rabbits, chickens and ducks and some impala and blesbok in a nearby field. It was a super meeting too, I am sure everyone who attended will agree! Thank you for hosting the meeting Ester, your first one as a member too!!! and sharing your very special ‘place on this earth’ with all of us. Xenia Winther gave us a ‘first time’ talk on ‘Starting with Bromeliads’, and a fine job she did, appealing to all the newer members amongst us. Starting with Bromeliads - Xenia Winther • What to do when you buy or receive a Bromeliad : first thing, ask for the type (eg. Neoregelia, Aechmea, Billbergia ), and name (eg. 'Galaxy', 'Inferno', sanguinea ). • Check to see where the plant has been growing: sun, shade, dappled shade, under shade cloth etc. This along with the name and type will help you to determine where and how to place and care for your new plant/s. • If no identification can be found, take your plant with you to your Bromeliad Society or to an experienced grower for identification and advice, or if all else fails try the internet. • Transporting: GOOD IDEA, always keep a box or crate in the boot of your car for easy, clean transporting. Remember to empty all excess water from the cups of tank type bromeliads eg Neoregelia , Aechmea etc. Place your plants as close together as possible without them crushing each other to help prevent them from falling Xenia Winther presenting ‘Starting with over. Bromeliads ’ at the February meeting. • NEVER, EVER leave plants in a parked car in hot sun, they can get ‘COOKED’. For long distance trips stop and air (refresh), your plants and yourselves regularly, no one enjoys a hot stuffy car. • WHAT TO DO AT HOME, until you know exactly what your bromeliad is and the conditions under which it has been growing, rather place it in shade or dappled shade. You can’t reverse sunburn, so rather be safe than sorry. Check the size of the pot, most bromeliads have a small root An Aechmea grown in too much A Neoregelia that has been burnt system and don’t need or want a huge pot. If shade. by the hot sun. you want to keep the plant in the pot check that the soil isn’t soggy and that the plant is not planted too deeply. (the soil should just cover the roots). • BARE ROOTED PLANTS (the plants are not in pots when you get them) especially Neoregelia , Aechmea and other epiphytic bromeliads can simply be wedged upright amongst other plants or supports in a shaded, or semi- shaded position. They can grow like that for months, just remember to water the leaves. • PLANTING OR PLACING OUT. Don’t place a shade grown plant in sun straight away. Acclimatize or harden the plant off over a period of months, gradually moving the plant into more sun. Bromeliads like well drained soil so don’t plant them in a bog, you can improve your soil by adding small stone or coarse Grown in too little light and too sand to your potting medium. You can leave your plant in the pot until you close together. are happy with its position. • To avoid plants blowing over half bury the pot in soil for extra stability, group plants together that like the same growing conditions and support with stones or rocks or place gravel and stones in the potting mix. Keep your plants away from copper and treated wood, as these are toxic to your plant. • HOW TO IDENTIFY SHADE PLANTS: Soft green leaves with small or no spines, discolour leaves (green on top and purple/ pink/ reddish underneath the leaf). Note there are exceptions which have coloured leaves. Eg. Guzmania , Nidularium . • SUN TOLERANT: Mostly tough, spiny green and coloured leaves, morning sun or dappled shade is best. A lot of broms scorch and burn in the midsummer afternoon sun. If your plant gets too much sun it may burn or bleach but don’t throw it away as it will probably still produce pups (babies). If your plant is grown in too much shade, the leaves will grow long, very green and thin with little or no colour. Gradually move it into East London Bromeliad Society South Africa March 2018 Page 2 more sun over a period of months. • Bromeliads are generally easy plants to grow with few pests and diseases, and it’s very easy to get addicted to them and start collecting. Show and Tell Vilma Murray showed us an un-named Guzmania from her garden that is struggling a bit and asked where it should be positioned to grow to its best, as she has a very sunny garden with not much shade. It has very soft leaves with no spines, so is best Pete with his stunning clump of Wallisia Vilma’s un-named Guzmania she grown in dappled light to shade. cyanea . brought to get some advice. Dr Pete Pfister showed us his lovely clump of Wallisia cyanea (formerly Tillandsia cyanea ) which he has had for a long time. It is growing in a hanging basket in his shadehouse. They need a fair amount of sun to ensure that they bloom. Robert Moss showed a splendid clump of Vriesea 'Astrid' in a hanging basket. Robert also brought along Vriesea simplex or is it V. scalaris ? to try and clarify the name as there has been some controversy over over V. scalaris and V. simplex, they are so Robert’s very similar. Vriesea ‘Astrid’ right, and Vriesea What species is that? - Lyn simplex on the left. Wegner Tillandsia multicaulis I chose this as our species plant for the meeting as it was blooming and looking good! It is one of the tank type Tillandsia (air plant), with soft green leaves. These are often potted as they usually require more moisture. They also pup more prolifically when potted. This Tillandsia species grows in the humid cloud forests from almost sea level up to 2300m from Southern Mexico to Panama. Multicaulis refers to the many stems of the inflorescence. It is a small/medium sized plant with lots of leaves forming a dense rosette. The leaves are pale apple green, purplish towards the base. Several scapes (inflorescence stems, which usually extend beyond the leaves), narrow and upright, emerge from the axils of the leaves. There are 6 to 8 scapes, lanceolate (paddle-shaped, widening from the base and tapering to a point), 10 to 20cm long with numerous red, shiny complanate (flattened), imbricate (overlapping) floral bracts (leaf-like plant part, sometimes brightly coloured and found below a flower), shorter than the leaves. The petals are very long and erect, 6 to 7cm and blue/lilac. This species is quite epiphytic but will adapt Lyn’s Tillandsia multicaulis to a pot requiring a very free draining mix. This is a showy colourful species but a difficult grower. It has a soft leaved rosette. It produces several lateral (from the side) inflorescences from the leaf axils. The spikes, similar to a goldfish in shape, have flowers with shiny red bracts and blue petals. Grows in shade, with cool night temperatures. East London Bromeliad Society South Africa March 2018 Page 3 I was lucky to find all the above information in some of my bromeliad books, as there is very little information on the internet. I have found the plant very easy to grow. It is in the shade house, potted, and I don't think the mix is as free draining as it should be. It is watered now and then, sometimes it might be too dry and sometimes too wet! especially if we have had good rain.